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3  OS'  7  H 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2015 


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VENTILATION 

AKD 

WARMING  OF  BUILDINGS, 

UPON  THE  PRINCIPLES  AS  DESIGNED  AND  PATENTED 

BY 

ISAAC   D.  SMEAD, 

Now  owned  and  controlled  (under  13  patents) 

BY 

ISAAC   D.  SMEAD   &  CO., 

TOLEDO,  CINCINNATI,  KANSAS  CITY  AND  WASHINGTON. 

SMEAD   &  NORTHCOTT, 

ELMIRA,  NEW  YORK. 

SMEAD,  WILLS   &  CO., 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

SMEAD,  DOWD   &  CO., 

TORONTO,  ONT. 

SMEAD   WARMING   AND   VENTILATING  CO., 

BOSTON,  MASS. 


Copyright,  1889,  by  Isaac  D.  Smead  &  Co.,  Toledo,  Ohio. 


HENRY  O.  SHEPARD  &  CO., 
GENERAL  PRINTERS  AND  BINDERS, 
181  TO  187  Monroe  Street, 
CHICAGO. 


Feln-uaiy  11,  1889. 

Hon.  Isaac  D.  Smeao, 

Toledo,  Ohio, 

iJcar  Sir  : 

The  luidersigned,  your  associates  in  busiJiess,  respectfully  urge  upon  your  consideration  the 
unanimous  and  earnest  desire  of  all  connected  with  each  of  the  Smead  offices  which  we  represent 
that  you  permit  the  publication  of  your  portrait  as  a  frontispiece  for  the  new  book  which  you  are 
now  preparing.  You  are  both  the  Jbundo' and  thc  2:>resent.i}isjm'atio7ioi  the  business  in  which 
we  are  engaged,  and  wherever  we  introduce  the  Smead  system  we  hear  expressed  the  desire  to 
"see  Mr.  Smead."  From  some  correspondence  with  you  upon  this  subject  we  are  aware  that  it 
Avill  not  be  in  the  line  of  your  inclinations  to  grant  our  request,  but  it  seems  to  us  so  ajjpropriate 
as  to  become  almost  imperative.  We  trust  you  will,  therefore,  lay  aside  your  personal  prefer- 
ences and  permit  the  publication  of  the  picture. 

Respectfully  yours, 

Smkad  &  NoRTiicoTT,  Elmira. 
  Smead,  Wills  &  Co.,  Philadelphia. 

Smead,  Dowd  &  Co.,  Toronto,  Ontario. 

Smead  Warmixg  &  Ventilating  Co.,  Boston. 

LsAAC  D.  Smead  &  Co.,  Kansas  City. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


Buildings  Warmed  by  Smead  Apparatus,           .    117  to  150 

Cost  of  Warming  School  Buildings  (Cost  op  Fuel),      ........  55 

Care  Given  to  Warming  Apparatus,        ...........  21 

Cast-Iron  Furnaces,         ...............  9 

Engineering,  etc.,         .       .       .       .       .       .       .       .       .       .       .       .  ■      .       .  15, 57  and  58 

Furnaces,  ;   1  to  36 

Floor  Construction,     ...............  94 

How  to  Select  a  Warming  and  Ventilating  Apparatus,      .       .       .       .       .       .       .  113 

Hot-Air  Furnaces — A  Few  Samples,   11  and  12 

Relation  of  Architects  to  the  Question  of  Warming  Buildings,        .....  16 

Ruttan  System  (Its  History),      .       .    ■   1, 2  and  3 

Smead's  System  of  Continuous  Ventilation,                                                                  18,  20,  22  and  23 

Smead's  System  op  Dry  Closets,          ...........  61  to  104 

Smead's  Schoolroom  Heater,   105  to  112 

Smead's  System  of  School  House  Construction,    109  and  110 

Steam  Heating,        ....    53  to  60 

Stove  and  Furnace  Gases,          .                                                          .                     .  116 


i 


AND 

VENTILATION  OF  BUILDINGS. 


Dr.  :  Good  morning,  Mr.  Smeail ;  I  am  glad  to  find  you  in  youi'  office  and  alone.  I 

am  told  that  you  are  the  largest  manufacturer  of  warming  and  ventilating  apparatus  in  America; 
and,  being  very  much  interested  in  the  subject,  I  have  called  to  get  such  information  as  you  may 
feel  disposed  to  give.  I  also  propose  to  examine  the  operation  of  your  apparatus  in  some  of  our 
public  school  buildings.  I  have  been  invited  to  read  a  paper  at  the  meeting  of  the  State  Sanitary 
Association,  and  desire  to  state  the  truth,  as  near  as  I  am  able  to  learn  what  it  is. 

Mr.  Smead  :  I  am  glad  to  see  you,  doctor,  and  if  you  are  disposed  to  be  influenced  by  facts 
rather  than  by  theories,  and  Avill  devote  the  necessary  time  to  a  full  investigation,  and  then  state 
your  conclusions  in  a  positive,  definite  manner,  I  will  devote  an  hour  or  two  a  day  to  the  subject, 
and  when  Ave  are  through  I  have  no  fear  concerning  the  opinion  you  will  hold. 

Dr.  :  Are  you  the  largest  manufacturer  of  warming  and  ventilati)ig  apparatus  in 

America  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  For  large  buildings,  yes.    The  firms  of 

Isaac  D.  Smead  &  Co.,  Toledo,  Cincinnati,  Washington  and  Kansas  City, 

Smead,  Wills  &  Co  ,  Philadelphia, 

Smead  &  Noi'thcott,  Elmira, 

Smead,  Dowd  &  Co.,  Toronto, 

Smead  Warming  &  Ventilating  Co.,  Boston, 
of  which  I  am  the  "  Smead,"  do  more  work  in  our  line  than  any  firms  in  either  America  or  Europe. 
Dr.  :  How  long  have  you  been  engaged  in  the  business  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Since  boyliood  ;  over  twenty  years.  Tlie  experience  of  those  associated  Avith 
me  varies  from  five  to  seventeen  years. 

Dr.  :  Tell  me  about,  the  early  history  of  the  Smead  heating  and  ventilating  business. 

Mr.  Smead  :  Tlie  story  is  too  long.  The  road  I  have  traveled  has  been  rough,  Avith  thorns 
all  along  the  path,  until  during  the  past  seven  or  eight  years,  and  there  are  more  noAV  than  I  Avish 
there  Avere.    There  Avould  be  less  if  people  would  think  more. 

Dr.  :  Who  commenced  the  business  in  which  you  are  now  engaged  "? 

Mr.  Smead :  In  1862  Hon.  Henry  Ruttan,  of  Canada,  published  a  large  book  upon  tlie 
subject  of  warming  and  ventilating,  illustrating  some  of  his  theories  by  diagrams,  etc.  In  18G6 
this  book,  by  accident,  fell  into  the  hands  of  some  gentlemen  in  Illinois  who  Avere  pleased  with 
the  theories  advanced  by  Mr.  Ruttan ;  they  purchased  his  patent  for  the  United  States.  I  Avas 
a  boy  employed  about  their  office. 

Dr.  :  Did  Mr.  Ruttan  manufacture  a  heating  apparatus  '? 

Mr.  Smead  :  No,  nor  did  he  ever  apply  his  theories  on  ventilation  to  a  building  containing 
more  than  one  room.  He  simplu  advanced  a.  theory.  He  Avas  about  eighty  years  old  when  he 
Avrote  his  book. 

Dr.  :  What  Avere  some  of  his  theories  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Briefly,  that  the  point  of  exit  for  foul  and  cold  air  from  a  room  should  be  at  or 
beloio  the  floor  IcA'el,  instead  of,  as  then  supposed,  at  the  tO})  of  the  room  ;  and  that  a  large  volume 
of  moderately  vKirmed  air  should  be  supplied  instead  of  a  smcdl  quantity  of  hot  air. 


8 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


Dr.   :  You  surprise  me  !  Do  I  understand  you  to  say  that  jjrevious  to  the  establish- 
ment of  your  business  people  attempted  to  ventilate  their  rooms  at  the  ceiling  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Yes,  and  there  are  many  now  who  do  not  know  but  that  is  the  proper  locality 
for  foul  air  exits.  Scarcely  a  week  passes  that  architects  do  not  lay  before  me  plans  with  no 
other  method  represented. 

Dr.   :  But  that  would  render  uniform  warming  impossible,  as  all  the  warmest  air  of 

a  room  is  at  the  top. 

Mr.  Smead  :  So  it  would  except  by  radiation  as  from  either  a  steam  coil  or  a  stove  ;  and 
furthermore,  with  the  stove  or  steam  coil  ventilation  is  not  ])Ossible,  as  they  only  warm  and 
re-warm  the  air  in  the  room. 

Dr.   :  What  did  your  employers  do  with  Mr.  Ruttan's  patents  and  theories  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  They  commenced  to  advertise  "  the  correct  system  of  ventilation  "  and  to  argue 
for  the  proper  construction  of  buildings. 

Dr.   :  What  do  you  mean  by  "proper  construction  of  buildings  ?  " 

Mr.  Smead  :  As  buildings  were  then  constructed  only  smoke-flues  were  provided.  Occasion- 
ally some  so-called  "  ventilators,"  made  of  either  wood  or  sheet  iron,  were  scattered  about  the 
roof,  wherever  most  convenient  for  the  architect's  draftsman  or  the  contractor  to  locate  them. 
My  employers  (Messrs.  Wm.  A.  Pennell  &  Co.,  of  Normal,  111.),  argued  in  favor  of  the  construction 
of  a  large  ventilating  flue  or  stack  extending  entirely  through  the  building  from  the  basement,  and 
also  the  construction  of  large  cold  and  warm-air  conduits.  They  were  entirely  inexperienced  in 
the  work,  none  of  the  three  being  practical  builders  ;  one  was  a  retired  merchant,  the  other  an 
.iron  manufacturer,  the  third  a  visionary,  impractical  theorist. 

Dr.  :  Were  many  buildings  constructed  as  you  describe  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Yes,  for  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  system  was  assailed,  ridiculed  and 
condemned  by  all  those  interested  in  the  manufacture  of  stoves,  hot-air  furnaces  and  steam- 
heating  apparatus,  there  was  a  pressing  demand,  and  a  great  many  were  people  anxious  to  secure 
a  system  of  ventilation,  more  especially  those  familiar  with  the  condition  of  school  buildings 
where  children  were  being  boxed-in  six  hours  per  day. 

Dr.   :  Was  the  system  successful  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Yes,  as  to  ventilation  ;  but  as  to  heating,  a  total  failure. 
Dr.  :  Why  a  failure  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Principally  because  one  very  important  point  had  been  entirely  overlooked  by 
all  interested  parties. 

Dr.  :  To  what  do  you  refer  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  A  heating  apparatus.  Our  plans,  as  I  have  before  stated,  called  for  "  large 
cold-air  ducts"  for  supply,  "  large  warm-air  flues,"  and  a  "  large  ventilating  stack"  or  chimney 
for  exhaust.  Buildings  had  been  constructed  wherein  these  were  provided,  and  "  Tom,  Dick 
and  Harry"  had  furnished  the  heating  apparatus  ("hot-air  furnaces");  they  were  insuflicient 
to  warm  the  volume  of  air  required,  and  as  a  result  either  the  heating  apparatus  or  the  ventilation 
must  fail.  My  employers  had  guaranteed  both,  and  were  in  a  very  serious  position.  Those  who 
had  opposed  the  system  were  happy,  friends  discouraged,  and  customers  mad.  It  would  amuse 
you  to  read  our  correspondence  during  the  winter  of  'G7  and  '68  ;  it  does  me  now  (1889),  it 
did  not  tJtcii  ! 

Dr.   :  What  was  done  ?  • 

Mr.  Smead  :  The  capacity  of  cold-air  ducts  and  ventilating  flues  were  reduced,  customers 
kept  as  quiet  as  possible  by  promises  of  a  new  heating  apparatus  as  mon  as  one  could  he 
invented  and  manufactured. 

Dr.   :  An  encouraging  outlook  ! 

Mr.  Smead  :  Not  very  to  those  of  us  familiar  with  the  entire  situation  ;  but,  with  a  courage 
born  of  necessity,  work  was  commenced  ;  and  as  we  were  in  about  the  position  of  those  who  first 
discovered  the  force  in  steam  and  wanted  an  apparatus  that  would  enable  them  to  boil  water 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


9 


rapidly,  and  who  inventi'd  the  tubular  boiler,  we  took  it  as  a  guide,  and  as  it  could  be  completed 
more  quickly  in  wrought  than  cast  iron  we  made  the  fii'st  air-warmer  of  wrought  iron. 
Dr.  :  Was  it  "  a  go"  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Unfortunately  it  was.  The  natural  fuel  in  the  "West  was  soft  coal  ;  but  by 
chance  this,  our  first  air-warmer,  was  sent  into  a  section  of  the  country  Avhere  wood  was  the  fuel 
used.  The  apparatus  was  placed  in  j^osition  under  very  favorable  circumstances,  and  was  found  to 
warm  three  or  four  times  as  much  air  with  the  same  fuel  as  any  other. 

Dr.   :  I  suppose  you  were  then  veiy  hapjjy. 

Mr.  Smead  :  The  visionary  member  of  the  firm  was  ;  the  other  two  were  in  doubt,  as  they 
raised  the  question  of  durahUity.  I  was  a  "boy"  around  the  office  and  shops,  and  was  not  con- 
sulted, even  if  I  had  an  opinion.  Some  scientific  fellow  in  France  published  a  book  about  that 
time,  claiming  that  wrought  iron  M^as  the  best  material  from  which  to  construct  warming 
apparatus,  and  following  his  advice  nearly  a  hundred  were  manufactured,  at  a  cost  of  many 
thousands  of  dollars.  They  were  scattered  over  the  Western  States,  and  as  soon  as  cold  weather 
came,  and  especially  where  soft  coal  was  used,  we  soon  learned  that,  although  the  Frenchman's 
ideas  might  be  very  good  for  the  climate  of  France,  for  America  we  must  haA'e  some  other 
material  than  wrought  iron. 

Dr.  :  Why  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Because  of  our  extremely  cold  weather.  The  wrought  iron  could  not  meet  the 
demand,  especially  when  soft  coal  was  the  fuel  used.  Many  of  those  furnaces  did  not  last  a 
month,  and  nearlj'  all  were  used  up  before  spring. 

Dr.  :  What  did  you  do  then  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  AVished  we  had  our  money  Ijack  and  had  never  heard  of  Mr.  Ruttan  or  his 
system  of  ventilation. 

Dr.  :  What  did  your  customers  do  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Some  of  them  swore!  Some  abandoned  us,  put  up  stoves  or  introduced  steam; 
for  you  must  remember  that  any  building  can  be  loariaed  with  steam  if  the  boiler  is  large  enough 
and  the  pipes  are  properly  placed.  Others,  still  anxious  to  secure  ventilation,  and  having  confi- 
dence in  the  principles  advanced  bj'  us,  even  if  apparatus  was  imperfect,  urged  us  to  go  on  and  try 
again.  This  was  done  ;  the  mechanical  member  of  the  firm  commenced  to  make  i)atterns  foi'  a 
cast-iron  air-warmer,  following  the  same  principles  as  before,  namely,  the  tubular  boiler.  Here  is 
one  of  the  old  circulars  containing  a  cut  of  the  second  furnace  made  by  Messrs.  Pennell  &  Co.  I 
have  but  three  of  these  little  books,  and  value  them  as  relics  of  the  past. 

Dr.  :  That  don't  look  much  like  the  Smead  air-warmer  of  1888. 

Mr.  Smead  :  Nor  does  the  locomotive  of  today  resemble  the  one  made  forty  years  ago. 

Dr.  :  Was  the  apparatus  you  represent  here  a  success  ?    (See  cut  page  10.) 

Mr.  Smead  :  In  some  respects,  yes  ;  but  generally,  no.  It  was  more  durable  than  the  other,  and 
did  not  get  tired  quite  so  quickly  as  did  those  made  of  sheet  iron  ;  but,  owing  to  the  fact  that  we 
were  pioneers  in  the  use  of  soft  coal,  we  had  obstacles  to  overcome  that  others  had  wot  struggled 
with.  We  could  not  copy  as  other  manufacturers  did,  for  we  were  on  a  new  track.  Our  great 
trouble  was  to  prevent  the  annoyance  from  smoke  and  soot ;  this  had  not  been  accomplished  in 
the  new  furnace,  and  customers  were  but  little  better  pleased  than  before,  there  being  in  their 
minds  but  little  choice  between  being  frozen  or  smoked.  Hot-air  furnace  manufacturers,  steam- 
fitters  and  stove  manufacturers  were  about  the  onlj^  ones  tliorouglily  pleased  Avith  the  second 
attempt  to  get  into  successful  operation  the  apparatus  and  system  that  should  provide  both 
warmth  and  ventilation. 

Dr.  :  You  speak  of  other  manufacturers  "  copying."    To  what  do  you  refer'? 

Mr.  Smead:  For  many  years  there  have  been  manufactured  "hot-air  furnaces,"  generally 
made  by  stove  makers  and  sold  by  stove  dealers.  Just  examine  these  cuts  (see  pages  11  and  12) 
and  you  will  notice  that  they  are  all  about  the  same  —  a  fire  pot,  a  drum  and  a  smoke-pipe.  Each 
practically  a  copy  of  the  other,  differing  only  in  name  ;  one  calls  his  the  "  Fire  King,"  another  the 


10 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


THE  AIR-WARMER  AS  MANUFACTURED  IN  1867. 


"  Prairie  Queen  "  ;  "  Commander  "  and  "  Peacemaker  "  are  also  represented,  but  so  far  as  heating 
capacity  is  concerned,  one  is  but  little,  if  any,  better  than  the  others.  They  have  a  small  amount 
of  heating  surface,  and  that  surface  is  very  hot.  Their  use  in  connection  with  ventilation  had 
demonstrated  the  fact  that  something  7iew  must  be  provided,  and  although  nearly  three  years 
had  passed,  we  had  failed  to  meet  the  demand  ;  for,  as  I  have  said,  we  could  not  copy  or  steal  the 
ideas  of  others,  as  is  done  by  most  manufacturers.  Before  the  use  of  steam  there  was 
never  any  boiling  apparatus  except  a  kettle  ;  before  the  people  learned  of  the  necessity  for  ven- 
tilation they  were  satisfied  with  "  heat,"  no  matter  how  it  was  obtained  and  regardless  of  the 
quality  of  the  air. 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


11 


A  GROUP  OF  "HOT-AIR"  FURNACES. 

(See  pages  9  and  10.) 


A  GROUP  OF  "HOT-AIR"  FURNACES. 

(See  pages  9  and  10.) 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


13 


Dr.  :  I  understand  that  you  were  trying  to  get  an  apparatus  that  had  a  larger  amount 

of  fire  surface  than  any  previously  manufactured. 

Mr.  Sraead  :  Yes,  that  is  exactly  what  we  were  trying  to  do. 
Dr.  :  How  did  you  accomplish  it  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Instead  of  the  fire  pot  of  that  day,  we  made  a  long  fire  box,  the  fire  box  alone 
having  more  fire  surface  than  the  ordinary  furnace.  At  the  rear  of  the  fire  box  were  some  short 
pipes,  through  which  the  smoke  and  flame  passed  to  a  large  chaml^er,  thence  forward  to  a  front 
chamber,  then  back  again  to  the  rear.  Please  examine  the  cuts  representing  the  "  hot-air  furnaces," 
and  you  will  notice  that  the  distance  from  the  grate  to  the  point  where  smoke  goes  into  smoke- 
pipe  is  very  short  —  only  about  five  feet. 

Dr.  :  This  must  make  a  very  hot  smoke-pipe,  and  result  in  a  great  waste  of  fuel. 

Mr.  Smead  :  So  it  does,  and  that  is  one  of  the  reasons  why  people  complain  because  "fur- 
naces-consume so  much  fuel." 

Dr.  :  You  say  "  one  of  the  reasons  "  ;  give  me  another  reason. 

Mr.  Smead  :  Another  reason  is  because  they  are  generally  set  in  position  by  stove  dealers, 
who  know  little  or  nothing  about  heating  and  the  question  of  ventilation.  They  attempt  to  force 
the  hot  air  into  rooms  already  full  of  cold  air,  without  making  any  provision  for  the  exit  of  the  cold 
air  already  in  the  room.  Architects  are  more  at  fault  than  the  owners  of  the  buildings  for  con- 
structing them  in  the  manner  they  are  generally  built.  But  let  us  go  back  to  the  question  of 
the  proper  construction  of  an  air-warmer  ;  we  will  take  up  the  subject  of  engineering  and  venti- 
lation at  some  other  interview.  Now  you  will  notice  by  examining  this  cut  that  this  air-warmer 
is  not  built  upon  the  plan  of  the  hot-air  furnace  at  all.    (See  cut  page  14.) 

Dr.  :  How  large  is  the  furnace  you  represent  here  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  The  cut  represents  an  air-warmer  ten  feet  long,  six  feet  high  and  three  feet  six 
inches  wide. 

Dr.  :  It  would  therefore  seem  that  you  hold  on  to  the  smoke  and  other  products  of 

combustion  for  a  distance  of  about  forty  feet  before  they  are  permitted  to  go  to  the  chimney  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Yes,  and  at  the  same  time  we  present  to  the  volume  of  cold  air  to  be  warmed  a 
very  large  amount  of  fire  surface  heated  to  a  much  less  degree  than  the  red-hot  fire  pot  and 
dome  of  the  round  furnace  represented  by  the  other  cuts  I  showed  you. 

Dr.  :  Well,  what  was  the  matter  with  this  furnace,  or  "air-warmer,"  as  I  notice  you 

call  it  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  I  will  first  answer  your  question  by  asking  you  another.  Who  was  there  who 
could  tell  how  large  to  make  the  fire  box,  how  much  grate  surface  to  use,  how  large  to  make  the 
pipes  at  the  rear,  the  proper  size  of  the  long  ones  or  the  large  one  that  was  to  connect  with  smoke- 
rtue  y  All  the  libraries  of  the  world  contained  but  little  information  upon  the  subject  ;  all  heating 
appliances  manufactured  at  that  time  were  for  use  of  hard  coal  and  heating  very  hot  a  small 
amount  of  air.  We  were  working  in  another  direction  and  had  no  guide,  and  only  by  a  gness  at 
first,  and  experimenting  with  those  made  and  in  use  did  we  learn  the  answer  to  your  question. 
You  ask  "wliat  was  the  matter  '?  "  There  was  something  wrong  with  almost  every  castino-.  The 
"  rules"  given  by  "  scientists  "  which  we  had  followed  were  found  to  be  valuable  only  on  paper  ; 
those  who  had  always  opposed,  ridiculed  both  the  system  of  ventilation  and  the  apparatus  ;  dis- 
gusted customers  "  kicked,"  thousands  and  thousands  of  dollars  had  been  lost,  my  employers  were 
discouraged  and  the  present  reputation  and  condition  of  the  business  seemed  a  long  distance 
away. 

Dr.  :  The  evolution  of  the  Smead  air-warmer  makes  a  very  interesting  chapter. 

Mr.  Smead  :  Those  were  indeed  days  of  anxiety.  Come  in  again  tomorrow,  doctor,  and  I 
will  give  you  another  chapter.  There  have  been  a  good  many  in  the  past  twenty  years;  the  one 
given  you  only  comes  down  to  1872.  Tomorrow  I  will,  as  briefly  as  possible,  outline  the  history 
of  the  next  five  years 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


15 


Mr.  Smead  :  Doctor,  I  told  you  yesterday  that  I  would  give  you  some  more  "  history  "  when 
you  next  came  in.  I  do  this  because  it  is  true  that  the  story  of  the  business  you  see  conducted  here 
and  at  the  other  offices  (Elmira,  Philadelphia,  Toronto,  Kansas  City,  Boston,  Cincinnati  and 
Washington)  is  a  correct  history  of  the  commencement  and  advancement  of  the  science  of  venti- 
lation as  it  is  now  developed,  understood  and  applied.  A  thorough  knowledge  of  what  has  been 
done,  of  experiments  that  have  been  made,  is  sometimes  necessary  to  prevent  establishment  of 
falsfe  theories,  and  may  keep  you  from  going  oft'  on  a  track  that  will  lead  only  to  embarrassment 
and  failure.  I  am  pleased  to  have  this  conversation  with  you  for  several  reasons  ;  principally 
because  it  was  from  men  in  your  profession  that  we  first  received  our  encouragemeiit  to  go  on, 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  advancement  of  the  science  of  ventilation  was  contrary  to  the  pecun- 
iary interests  of  the  medical  jjrofession.  Take,  for  instance,  the  situation  of  this  city  ;  the 
introduction  of  our  apparatus  in  the  twenty-four  school  buildings,  wliereby  over  nine  thousand 
school  children  are  permitted  to  sit  in  rooms  from  which  every  cubic  foot  of  air  is  removed  every 
twelve  minutes,  has  resulted  in  a  reduction  of  the  revenue  of  the  doctors  among  school  children 
fully  seventy-five  per  cent ;  and  yet  it  is  from  the  doctors  that  I  receive  the  strongest  recom- 
mendations and  most  urgent  requests  that  we  extend  our  work.  I  am  convinced  that  your 
profession  either  do  not  care  for  money,  or  you  are  the  most  unselfish  of  men.  Where  did  we 
stop  yesterday  ? 

Dr.  :  Away  back  in  the  anxious  days  of  1872. 

Mr.  Smead  :  Early  in  1S12  some  of  the  firm  retired,  a  new  com])any  was  organized,  and  we 
commenced  for  the  third  time  to  manufacture  new  apjiaratus.  The  active  members  were  our 
superintendent,  Mr.  S.  D.  Fisher  (now  of  Smead,  Dowd  &,  Co.,  Toronto,  Out.),  and  myself  as  the 
secretary  of  the  new  company.  From  that  date  to  1S77  we  exijended  many  thousands  of  dollars 
in  patterns  and  machinery,  and  our  improved  apparatus  was  introduced  into  hundreds  of  buildings 
throughout  the  West ;  for  five  j-ears  we  did  a  large  amount  of  work,  some  of  which  was  done  with 
considerable  credit  to  ourselves  and  great  satisfaction  to  our  customers.  Not  a  pattern  that  was  in 
use  in  1872  was  used  in  1877,  and  success  seemed  assured.  More  than  $50,000  had  been  expended 
in  improvements,  and  but  for  an  unfortunate  investment  in  poor  iron,  which  caused  a  susjoension, 
we  should  have  been  contented.  The  business  could  not  at  that  stage  be  permanently  stopped  ; 
a  new  company  was  organized  and  the  offices  moved  to  Chicago.  Mr.  Fisher  was  still  continued  as 
superintendent.  I  was  made  the  president,  and  filled  the  position  as  well  as  I  could  with  all  the 
embarrassments  incident  to  that  of  head  officer  of  a  stock  company  with  limited  caj^ital  and  total 
lack  of  harmony  among  its  stockholders  and  officers.  In  January,  1882,  I  resigned  my  position 
and  came  to  Toledo,  taking  as  my  territory  in  which  to  do  business  that  portion  of  the  United 
States  lying  north  of  the  Ohio  river  and  east  of  Illinois.*  The  other  portion  of  the  United 
States  was  still  retained  by  my  old  associates.  During  the  five  years  previous  to  1882  but 
little  advancement  had  been  made  either  in  heating  apparatus  or  in  application  of  the  system  of 
construction,  due  mainly  to  the  fact  that  "Too  many  cooks  spoil  the  broth."  There  were  too 
many  to  please,  and  too  many  Avith  a  right  to  express  and  enforce  their  opinions.  I  had  been  with 
the  business  for  many  years,  and  chafed  under  the  restraint  of  no  progress  ;  but  at  last,  fifteen 
years  after  its  commencement,  I  was  in  a  position  to  push  it  in  my  own  way,  and  if  I  pushed  it 
to  failure  it  was  no  one's  business  but  my  own. 

Dr.  :  What  was  the  first  thing  you  did  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Immediately  after  I  established  my  office  I  employed  a  draftsman,  and  decided 
that  no  apparatus  should  be  sold  or  set  except  a  plan  showing  the  proper  construction  of  the 
building  was  made,  and  this  plan  adopted  by  the  owner  of  the  building,  and  the  building  con- 
structed in  accordance  therewith. 

Dr.  ■  • :  Was  this  an  innovation  upon  the  past  methods  '? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Yes  ;  up  to  that  time  I  had  never  known  such  a  department  in  connection  with 
any  office  where  heating  apparatus  was  sold.    We  did  before  that  sometimes  make  sketches,  but 


*  The  Kansas  City  office  is  doing  business  only  in  Missouri,  Kansas  and  Nebraska  — established  October.  1888. 


16 


ISAAC  D.  8MEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


generally  they  were  to  express  to  our  superintendents  our  ideas  of  the  way  the  apparatus  should 
be  made  to  conform  to  the  plans  drawn  by  an  architect,  who  may  or  may  not  have  designed  some 
plan  of  supply  and  exhaust.  I  took  the  position  that  my  great  experience — a  hundred  times 
greater  experience  than  any  architect  had  ever  had — was  a  better  guide  for  the  owners  than  the 
views,  theories,  ideas,  guesses,  or  whatever  you  may  call  them,  of  architects,  many  of  whom  had 
never  erected  a  dozen  buildings.* 

Dr.  :  But  some  of  them  claim  to  have  "  made  the  study  of  ventilation  a  specialty." 

Mr.  Smead  :  Your  remark  reminds  me  of  the  United  States  Senator  who  stated  that  he 
"now  fully  understood  the  subject  of  finance,"  for  he  "had  been  studying  the  subject  for  the  last 
three  days.'''' 

Dr.  :  Was  your  method  approved  by  the  architects  and  their  clients  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Some  of  the  arcliitects  did  as  they  always  had  done,  namely,  claim  to  know  all 
about  everything  —  heating,  ventilation,  light,  acoustics,  stone-work,  brick-work,  carpenter-work 
construction  of  all  kinds,  art,  architecture  ;  in  fact,  all  that  makes  life  worth  living.  Others,  and 
they  (I  have  since  learned)  were  the  most  prominent  ones  in  the  state,  said,  "  We  are  glad  you  are 
willing  to  assume  that  portion  of  the  work,  and  to  guarantee  success  ;  it  has  been  the  one  subject 
that  has  given  us  the  most  trouble."  I  shall  never  forget  the  honest,  hearty  grip  of  one  architect 
who,  when  he  read  my  card,  e:^tended  his  hand  and  said,  "  I  am  glad  to  see  you ;  1  know  you  will 
succeed  if  you  understand  the  business.  I  have  built  as  many  public  buildings  as  any  architect 
in  Ohio  ;  I  have  tried  everything  —  steam,  hot  water  and  furnaces  —  and  among  all  my  buildings 
there  is  not  one  properly  warmed  or  thoroughly  ventilated." 

Dr.  :  Were  your  plans  approved  by  owners  of  buildings  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Yes,  as  soon  as  they  fully  understood  the  (juestion.  The  Board  of  Education 
of  Toledo  had  just  ordered  the  erection  of  a  six-room  addition  to  one  of  their  buildings,  and  the 
first  plan  I  designed  differed  so  much  from  methods  pursued  before  that  it  was  only  after  careful 
investigation  that  they  were  induced  to  adopt  it. 

Dr.  ■  :  What  apparatus  had  they  been  using  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  All  kinds  ;  mostly  "  hot-air  furnaces,"  although  they  had  steam  apparatus  in 
some  buildings.  They  required  new  apparatus  in  the  six  old  rooms.  The  agents  for  the  old 
hot-air  furnace  claimed  they  could  do  better  work  than  I  could  (they  often  so  claim),  and  the 
Board  purchased  theirs  for  the  old  portion  of  the  building  and  mine  for  the  new. 

Dr.  :  What  was  the  result  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  It  cost  $236  less  for  fuel  to  warm  six  rooms  with  my  apparatus  than  to  warm 
the  same  number  of  rooms  with  the  other  apparatus,  on  the  other  side  of  the  hall,  during  the 
Avinter  of  1882  and  1883.  They  used  a  less  number  of  tons  of  soft  coal  in  our  air-warmer  than 
they  did  tons  of  hard  coal  in  the  hot-air  furnace. 

Dr.  :  How  about  the  ventilation  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  The  air-meter  said  that  on  our  side  the  air  in  each  schoolroom  was  changed 
every  nine  minutes,  while  on  the  other  side  there  was  little  or  no  ventilation. 

Dr.  :  That  was  in  1882  ;  how  many  school  buildings  are  there  in  Toledo  now  contain- 
ing your  apparatus  '? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Erery  puMlc  school  hullding  in  the  city  —  twenty-four  in  all. 

Dr.  ■  :  AVhat  was  done  with  the  old  apparatus  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  It  was  taken  out  and  sold  for  old  iron. 

Dr.  :  What  was  the  total  saving  in  fuel  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  At  prices  they  Avere  paying  then  the  saving  in  fuel  was  between  $8,000  and 
89,000  per  annum.    They  use  natural  gas  now,  and  prices  given  by  the  gas  company  are  based  on 


••'Moreover,  the  architects  themselves  are  now  tindiug  It  expedient  to  adopt  the  same  method  of  subdivision  in  their  work 
which  has  become  necessary  not  only  in  many  of  the  practical  arts  but  even  in  the  legal  professions,  namely,  either  to  employ  special 
experts  in  the  different  departments,  or  else  to  organize  firms  in  which  one  should  be  the  artist,  another  the  builder,  another  the 
engineer.  Modern  requirements  make  specialization  necessary,  and  there  are  few  indeed  who  can  quaUfy  themselves  for  all  the  requirements  of 
almost  any  profession. — Edward  Atkinson  in  Century. 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


17 


cost  of  warming  with  my  ai>i)aratus.  The  small  cost  of  lieatiiig  such  large  buildings  was  a  great 
surprise  to  the  superintendent  of  the  gas  company,  and  I  am  inclined  to  think  something  of  a 
disappointment,  as  his  previous  calculations  were  based  on  cost  in  other  cities. 

Dr.   :  Did  the  Toledo  Hoard  reconsti'uct  their  buildings  to  introduce  your  system  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Yes,  in  all  old  buildings  they  built  the  necessary  smoke,  warm  air  and  ventilat- 
ing Hues.    The  apparatus  and  exj>ense  of  introduction  in  one  building  cost  over  $13,000. 

Dr.  :  You  refer  to  the  High  School  building  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Yes  ;  all  new  ones  constructed  since  the  first  test  of  my  apparatus  have  been 
built  in  accordance  with  plans  designed  by  me.  By  plans  I  refer  only  to  plans  for  warming  and 
ventilating,  not  to  other  portions  of  the  building.  I  do  not  care  whether  the  building  in  design 
or  finish  is  modern  or  ancient,  or  a  combination  of  both,  whether  it  be  one  story  or  ten,  whether 
it  contains  one  room  or  a  hundred,  whether  the  owner  be  Jew  or  Gentile ;  I  sinn)ly  take  the  plans 
as  they  are  drawn  by  the  architect,  make  a  plan  showing  proper  size  and  location  of  smoke,  ven- 
tilating and  warm  air  ilues,  size  and  location  of  heating  apparatus,  and  ask  its  ado])tion,  and 
guarantee  success  if  jilan  is  followed. 

Dr.   :  How  do  you  know  they  will  be  followed  if  adopted  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  The  owner  must  contract  with  me  for  the  ai)paratus,  which  I  agree  to  set  in 
position,  ready  for  use,  and  to  furnish  a  superintendent  to  see  the  building  frequently  during  its 
consti'uction  ;  and  if  plans  are  not  being  followed  he  will  insist  upon  work  being  properly  done 
or  stop  the  work. 

Dr.   :  Does  he  often  have  trouble  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Not  with  the  customer,  but  sometimes  with  a  rascally  conti'actor  or  "  smart 
Aleck"  of  an  architect,  who  either  wants  to  cover  some  error  of  his  own  or  aid  the  builder  to 
cheat  the  owner. 

There  is  one  poi/it  on,  which  we  liave  more  trouble  than  on  all  others  comhliied.    Nine-tenths  of 
all  cennplaints  that  come  to  us  come  because  of  this  one  thing. 
Dr.   :  What  is  that? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Deficient  height  of  smoke  and  ventilating  flues.  I  insist  that  they  are  made 
for  use  as  such,  and  should  be  constructed  to  a  height  that  would  prevent  their  operation  being 
interfered  with  by  other  portions  of  the  building,  the  roof,  towers,  cupolas,  etc. 

Dr.  :  I  should  not  suppose  there  would  be  any  argument  on  that  question. 

Mr.  Smead  :  You  would  change  your  mind  if  you  should  work  for  ns  for  a  month.  Why, 
only  the  other  day  I  called  the  attention  of  an  architect  to  the  fact  that  as  flues  were  represented 
on  his  ])lans  they  could  not  "draw"  when  the  wind  came  from  the  west.    (See  cuts  page  is.) 

Dr.  :  What  did  he  say? 

Mr.  Smead:  Called  my  attention  to  his  "1)eautiful  design  for  stone  steps  to  main  entrance," 
dismissing  the  chimney  question  witli  the  remark  that  "contract  was  already  awarded  and  could 
not  be  changed  !  " 

Dr.  :  What  did  you  do? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Called  the  attention  of  the  owner  to  the  error,  and  before  the  building  is 
finished  those  flues  will  go  to  a  point  not  an  inch  less  than  eight  feet  above  the  highest  point  of 
the  roof.  If  the  change  is  not  made  that  building,  costing  over  |60,000,  will  not  be  properly 
ventilated,  and  the  smoke  from  the  heating  apparatus  will  pufi:  out  into  the  face  of  the  fireman 
when  he  puts  in  fuel.  When  the  January  wind  blows  from  the  north  or  west  is  about  the  time 
that  we  want  a  heating  apparatus  in  successful  operation. 

Dr.   :  You  speak  of  introducing  your  apparatus  into  twenty-four  school  buildings  in 

Toledo  ;  have  you  had  equal  success  in  other  cities? 

Mr.  Smead:  Yes.  In  18S;3  I  furnished  api)aratus  for  two  school  buildings  in  Washington, 
D.  C;  there  are  now,  in  1889,  thirty-three  school  buildings  there,  warmed  and  ventilated  by  my 
apparatus.  In  1883  I  furnished  for  one  school  building  in  Columbus,  Ohio  ;  there  are  now  eleven 
school  buildings  there  containing  our  apparatus.  In  1883  I  furnished  for  one  school  building  in 
Detroit,  and  last  year  for  ten  more  ;  one  for  Cleveland  Board  in  1886,  five  in  1887  ;  and  I  could 


IS 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


name  scores  of  otlifi-  cities  wliei'e  the  same  results  have  been  obtained.    I  have  furnished  appa- 
ratus for  more  than  one  thousand  buildings  during  the  last  few  years. 
Dr.   :  Do  yon  meet  with  much  opposition? 


Mr.  Smead  :  Yes,  and  es]>ecially  in  the  larger  cities. 
Dr.  :  From  whomV 

Mr.  Smead  :  Steamtitters,  plumbers,  dealers  in  hot-air  furnaces  made  in  stove  foundries. 
These  parties,  aided  by  their  political  friends,  worry  us  sometimes. 

Dr.  :  What 

other  improvements   « 

have  you  made  since  you 
left  the  old  c(jmpany  'i 

Mr.  Smead  :  So  many  that, 
although  we  cast  several  tons  of 
iron  every  day,  I  do  not  today  use 
a  pattern  that  was  even  designed 
six  years  ago.  Come  in  tomorrow, 
doctor,  and  we  will  take  up  tljc 
subject  again. 

-X-  -X-  •!<■  -X- 

Mr.  Smead :  You  asked  me 
yesterday,  doctor,  concerning  re- 
cent improvements.  I  will  call 
your  attention  to  the  first,  namely, 
'my  system  of  "continuous  venti- 
lation." Previous  to  the  intro- 
duction of  this,  with  all  kinds  of 
a})[)aratus,  including  our  own,  if 
the  rooms  became  too  warm  and 
the  occupant  should  close  the  reg- 
ister, entrance  of  air  was  stojiped. 
I  have  often  gone  into  school- 
rooms where  I  knew  the  arrangements  for  ventilation  to  be  the  best,  and  found  the  air  very 
bad,  and  especially  would  it  be  noticeable  to  one  coming  from  outside,  while  those  who  had 
gradually  become  accustomed  to  it  would  not  notice  the  impurity  ;  but  the  process  of  slow  poison- 
ing was  going  on  all  the  time,  even  though  unnoticed  by  teacher  or  pupil.    Upon  inquiry,  the 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


19 


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20 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


teacher  would  innocently  reply,  "The  room  becoming  too  warm,  I  closed  the  register," 
sometimes  adding,"  I  guess  the  room  has  cooled  off  now,  I  will  open  the  register."  I  determined 
to  so  arrange  my  apparatus  in  the  future  that  when  "  the  room  became  too  warm,"  and  the  teacher 
decided  to  turn  ojftha  "heat,"  she  will  also  turn  on  the  "cold";  in  other  words,  that  when  she 
dimi7iished  the  flow  of  warm  air  she  should  in  like  proportion  sajyply  cold  air.  By  an  examination 
of  these  cuts  you  will  see  that  I  have  so  arranged  the  apparatus  that  I  mingle  the  two  currents, 
and  that  air  at  any  desired  temperature  can  be  secured  thrnugh  the  register.,  and  this  regardless  of 
the  carelessness  or  indifference  of  a  teacher.  (See  cuts  pages  21  and  23.) 
Dr.  :  Have  you  made  any  improvements  in  registers  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Yes,  notice  the  one  I  have  just  shown  you  ;  there  is  more  hole  than  iron.,  and 
with  others  there  is  more  iron  than  hole. 

Dr.  :  Then  you  only  use  the  iron  as  a  screen  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  That  is  it  exactly.  I  would  be  better  satisfied  if  there  were  no  iron  to  obstruct 
the  flow  of  air  into  the  room.  Any  register  obstructs  to  the  extent  of  the  size  of  the  bars  ;  but 
there  must  be  something  over  the  flue,  and  to  get  them  as  nearly  right  as  I  know  how,  I  make  them 
as  you  see  represented  here. 


ISAAC  D  SMEAD  81  00. 


KANSAS  CITY.  MO. 


Dr.  :  What  did  you  commence  to  improve  next  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  The  regulator.    I  made  eleven  before  I  got  one  that  was  practical. 
Dr.   :  This  one  seems  very  simple.    (See  page  21.) 

Mr.  Smead  :  So  it  does,  but  it  cost  me  over  $400.    I  sell  them  now  at  a  profit  for  $3. 
Dr.  :  What  was  your  next  effort  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  For  several  years  the  most  serious  complaint  against  our  apparatus  was  the  cost 
of  renewal  of  the  linings  and  grates.  The  burning  out  of  the  latter  was  the  fault  of  the 
fireman  ;  the  loss  on  the  former  was  occasioned,  in  my  opinion,  because  they  were  improperly  con- 
structed. I  spent  several  hundred  dollars  experimenting  on  new  ones,  and  now  have  one  that  will 
last  for  years.  I  don't  hesitate  to  guarantee  them  for  five  years,  and  they  will  last  ten  if  firemen 
will  use  a  little  care.  With  the  old  apparatus  it  was  often  necessary  to  introduce  two  sets  every 
winter. 


Rochester,  Ind.,  Ajiril  5,  1889. 

Sup't  Manning,  Peru,  Ind.: 

Bear  Sir, — Mr.  Bartlett  tells  me  that  it  has  been  reported  to  you  that  the  dry  closet  system  is  not  working 
well  in  our  building.  You  certainly  have  been  misinformed,  as  it  works  thoroughly  well  and  we  are  satisfied 
with  it.    Heating  and  ventilation  are  entirely  satisfactory.  Yours  truly,         jA:\rES  F.  Scull, 

Sup't  City  Schools. 


VIEW  OF  REGISTER  AND  RliGULATOR. 

21 


22 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


Dr.   :  Does  your  present  ajjparatus  cost  the  customer  very  much  for  repair  ? 

Mr.  Smcad :  Nominally  notliing.  Here  is  a  table  which  I  cut  from  the  last  annual  report  of 
the  Board  of  Education  of  Columbus.    It  gives  some  interesting  figures  concerning  the 


COST  OF  STEAM-HEATING  REPAIRS  FROM  1879  TO  1888,  BOTH  INCLUSIVE. 


BUILDINO. 

1879 

1880 

1881 

1882 

1883 

1884 

1885 

1886 

1887 

1888 

Total 
10  year.s. 

Hioli  

*I)(iui;]as  

t Front  

i?41  2.") 
27  90 

$(\  95 
3<S(1  13 

$448  90 
10  83 

14  08 

!t;43  70 
4  27 

$205  76 
158  00 

$1..502  05 
3()  13 
50  50 

$66  8."i 
.55  85 
2  55 
4  0(1 
64  85 
8  25 
113  23 

$305  29 
231  00 
224  30 
185  25 
169  50 
2  00 
249  00 

$1,751  19 
676  00 
200  17 
42  10 
42  00 
507  20 
152  10 

$4,371  94 
],.590  19 
477  52 
231  35 
701  02 
740  02 
2,838  33 

3  00 
33  85 
113  .55 
15  20 

Mound  

7  50 
20  28 
1  00 

2  25 

240  00 

84  52 

50  55 
16  24 
1,6.52  15 

Rich   

6  50 
8  35 

Sullivant  

647  30 

*Fiiiished  in  1870.  fFinished  in  1885.  ^Finished  in  1883. 


Mr.  Smead  :  My  apparatus  has  been  in  use  in  Toledo  schools  six  winters,  and  is  now 
used,  as  before  stated,  in  twenty-four  buildings.  One  of  the  buildings  is  the  High  School 
building,  containing  twenty-four  rooms  besides  the  corridors  ;  most  of  the  others  are  twelve- room 
buildings.  The  city  has  never  paid  a  cent  for  repairs,  and,  aside  from  grates  and  linings,  they 
hold  my  guarantee  for  ten  years  on  each  apparatus,  provided  it  has  good  care.  By  good  care  I 
mean  about  the  degree  of  care  you  expect  your  hostler  to  give  your  horse.  There  are  a  thou- 
sand buildings  containing  my  apj^aratus,  and  there  are  some  mighty  poor  janitors.  Recently 
complaint  was  made  regarding  work  put  in  by  us  near  this  city,  and  sending  our  engineer  to 
investigate  the  cause,  he  found  the  teachers  complaining  of  cold  schoolrooms.  Going  to  the 
basement  lie  found  it  in  great  disorder,  dirt  and  ashes  scattered  all  around,  windows  covered  with 
dirt,  the  fire  boxes  of  the  furnaces  tioa-thirds  f nil  of  fuel,  and  the  janitor  in  the  act  of  throimng  in 
more,  when  the  following  conversation  ensued  : 

Engineer  :  Hold  on  !    What  ai'e  you  doing  that  for  '? 

Janitor  :  To  warm  the  rooms.    Tlie  teachers  are  scolding  me  because  their  rooms  are  too 
cold,  and  I  am  going  to  warm  tliem  if  it  takes  all  the  coal  in  the  basement  or  7nelts  the  furnaces  ! 
Engineer  :  Have  you  read  your  instructions  ? 

Janitor  :  Yes,  there  they  are  ;  but  I  can  never  warm  the  rooms  if  I  follow  them. 
Engineer  :  Have  you  tried  it  ? 

Janitor:  No;  but  I  am  an  old  steamboat  fireman  on  tlie  Oliio  river,  and  know  all  about 
firing. 

Engineer  :  When  did  you  clean  your  furnaces  ? 

Janitor  :  Oh,  they  are  all  right ;  I  gave  them  a  good  cleaning  last  spring  ! 
Engineer  :  I  am  the  one  wlio  sold  and  guarantees  this  apparatus,  and  will  teach  you  how 
to  run  it. 

He  then  spent  an  hour  with  him  in  cleaning  out  the  furnaces  (two),  and  after  removing  three 
wheelbarrow  loads  of  soot,  ashes,  cinder,  coke  and  coals,  with  four  or  five  inches  of  live  coals  on 
top  of  the  grates,  he  put  in  a  small  amount  of  coal,  scattering  it  well  over  the  top  of  the  burning 
fuel,  and  in  less  than  an  hour  every  room  in  the  building  was  warm.  The  following  morning  he 
superintended  the  firing,  and  in  less  than  an  liour  he  warmed  the  entire  building  with  one-half 
th,e  fuel  ttsually  used.  Now,  doctor,  under  those  circumstances  I  guarantee  no  more  than  you 
would  if  your  patients  did  not  take  your  medicine.  Here  is  an  item  I  cut  from  the  paper  today  ; 
it  refers  to  one  of  the  largest  buildings  I  ever  warmed  : 

Before  Smead's  man  came  here  from  Toledo,  two  weeks  ago,  we  were  burning  just  twice  as  ranch  coal 
in  the  Court  House  furnace  as  we  now  are  doing  umler  his  direction.  The  coal  in  the  furnace  should  not  be 
over  six  inches  in  depth  at  any  time,  and  should  at  all  times  be  carefully  attended  to  so  as  not  to  let  the  coal 
burn  out.  Witli  a  little  attention  to  business,  there  will  l>e  no  trouble  experienced  in  heating  up  tlie  building, 
and  a  great  deal  of  coal  saved. 


THIS  LITHOGRAPH  IS  MADE  TO  ILLUSTRATE 

ISAAC  D.  SMKAD'S 
System  of  Continuous  Ventilation 

As  applied  in  The  South  Street  School  Building, 
TOLEDO,  OHIO. 


Note, — This  is  always  used  in  all  our  school  work;  is  pro- 
tected by  patent  granted  Isaac  D.  Smead. 


Section,  Line  B.  B.  Showing  Cold  Air  Room, 
Furnace,  And  Warm  Air  Flue. 

(South  Street  School  Building,  Toledo,  Ohio.  Also  in  fifteen  other  school  buildings,  Toledo.) 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


Dr.  :  Ai-e  your  instructions  to  janitors  hard  to  understand  or  difficult  to  follow  ? 

Mr.  Smcad  :  Read  them  and  answer  the  question  yourself  ;  here  is  a  copy  : 

(n)  Never  build  <i  lire  witli  cold  air  shut  off  from  furnace. 
Keep  tlie  furnace  clean. 

(c)  Do  not  allow  ashes  to  collect  under  <j;rates. 

(d)  In  school  buildings  containinf;  tlie  dry-closet  system,  the  windows  openinp;  into  cold-air  rooms  mnst 
never  be  entirely  closed. 

((')  To  clieck  the  fire,  open  one  of  the  flue  doors. 

Dr.  :  Easy  enough  if  a  man  is  disposed  to  do  his  duty. 

Mr.  Smead  :  Tlie  next  improvement  in  the  heating  apparatus  was  its  almost  entire  recon- 
struction, whereby  my  improved  lining  was  introduced,  a  deeper  ash-pan  substituted  for  the  old 
shallow  one,  an  ornamental  and  more  suitable  front  added,  the  pipes  at  the  I'ear  of  the  fire  box 
abandoned,  and  the  top  portion  of  the  fii'e  box  extended.  Tliis  latter  so-called  improvement  was  a 
compromise  measure  between  the  Chicago  company  and  myself,  and  my  opinion  then  was  that  it 
was  a  step  backward,  and  experience  has  since  demonstrated  that  I  was  right.  Here  are  the  cuts 
representing  the  apparatus  as  im|)roved  in  1885.  Tlie  front,  tlie  deep  ash-pan,  linings  and  grates 
are  mine  ;  the  extension  at  rear  I  never  approved.    (See  cuts  pages  20,  27  and  28.) 

Dr.  :  Do  you  still  retain  connection  with  the  Cliicago  house  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Socially  and  in  the  ownership  of  all  old  patterns,  jiatents  and  machinery,  yes. 
We  also  aid  each  other  in  many  ways,  but  do  not  share  each  other's  gains,  losses  or  opinions, 
altliougli  as  a  rule  they  copy  almost  everytliing  I  do.  They  adopt  what  I  liave,  by  experiments, 
and  sometimes  expensive  ones,  demonstrated  to  be  correct. 

Dr.   :  But  none  of  these  cuts  represent  the  apparatus  now  in  use — the  air-warmer 

standing  in  your  salesroom. 

Mr.  Smead:  No,  they  do  not.  I  have  shown  them  to  you  that  you  may  see  the  growth  or 
evolution  from  the  first.  I  am  not  asliamed  of  them;  they  have  done  more  good  than  the  world 
will  ever  know  ;  but  the  truth  is,  doctor,  I  have  'tiever  believed  the  tubular  furnace  to  be  the  best 
apparatus  for  air-warming.  But  until  during  the  last  few  years  I  have  not  l)een  in  a  ]iosition 
to  make  an  apparatus  that  did  cover  my  ideas  in  all  points.  I  do  not  believe  that  a  round  pipe 
is  the  best  form  to  be  used  as  a  conduit  for  the  pro<lucts  of  comliustion  to  warm  a  surface  with 
which  a  rapidly  moving  current  of  air  is  to  be  heated.  Here  is  a  cut  of  the  Smead  air-warmer 
you  see  standing  in  the  salesroom  below  (see  cut  page  29)  ;  but  let  us  first  examine  tiie  furnace 
manufactured  previous  to  this  one  (on  page  27).  You  will  notice  that  in  its  construction  we 
break  every  rule  we  argue  for  when  we  design  a  plan  for  warming  a  building. 

Dr.  :  How  so  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  We  say  that  the  warmest  air  in  a  room  is  at  the  top. 
Dr.  :  So  it  is. 

Mr.  Smead  :  We  tell  our  customers  that  the  ventilation  of  a  room  should  be  on  a  level  with 
the  fioor,  that  the  coldest  air  may  be  drawn  off. 

Dr.  :  O  yes,  I  see  ;  with  the  Ruttan  furnace  you  ventilate  your  fire  box  at  the  top, 

thereby  drawing  off  the  hottest  products  of  combustion. 

Mr.  Smead:  Yes,  and  that,  too,  through  a  very  large  flue  or  "extension"  into  the  back 
breeching  or  large  chamber  at  the  rear. 

Dr.  :  You  then  exhausted  that  at  the  top  by  way  of  the  long  pipes  to  front  lireeching, 

then  that  again  at  the  fop  by  way  of  tlie  large  pipe  to  the  smoke-flue.  I  don't  see  how  you  could 
get  your  a])paratus  warm  with  any  degree  of  uniformity. 

Mr.  Smead  :  We  could  not ;  the  top  of  the  fire  box,  pipes  and  extension  would  be  very  hot, 
while  the  lower  portion  would  bo  many  degrees  cooler.  The  bottom  of  "  fire  box  extension  " 
would  soon  be  covered  with  fine  ashes,  and  lower  half  of  the  pipes  with  soot,  and  both  ashes  and 
soot  being  non-conductors  of  heat,  would  render  practically  valueless  those  portions  of  the  appa- 
ratus for  heating  surface. 


31 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO.  33 


Si 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD       CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


35 


i)r.  :  I  fully  uiulerstancl  the  old  one,  and  acknowledge  its  defect.'^  ;  now  show  me  the 

new  one.    (See  cuts  pages  2!»,  30,  31,  32,  33  and  34.) 

Mr.  Smead  :  There  were  many  more  defects  to  which  I  have  not  called  your  attention,  l>ut 
here  is  the  new  one.  First  examine  the  fire  box  and  you  will  notice  that  it  is  not  exhausted  of  its 
smoke,  flame  and  other  gases  at  the  to^')-,  but  at  the  bottom^  or  nearly  on  a  line  with  the  burning 
coal  ;  and  the  result  is  an  evenly  warmed  fire  box,  except  directly  at  the  point  of  exit,  where  it  is 
some  hotter.  After  the  smoke  and  flame  leave  the  fire  box,  instead  of  passing  through  the  very 
large  extension  or  large  flue  with  the  warming  surface  at  the  most  distant  ])oint  possible  from  its 
center,  I  change  the  shape  of  this  flue,  shaped  thus  : 

to  two  narrow  upright  flues,  shaped  thus  :  ]  < 


Air  S/jocc 


FORM  OF  FIRE  BOX  f EXTENSION, 
1885  Pattern. 

and  exhaust  them  again  at  the  bottom,  at  the  rear,  into 
two  back  chambers,  wliich  are  also  lo)i[/  and  ttarrov. 

Dr.   :  I  notice  that  you  keep  the  "  center 

point  "  rery  near  the  exterior. 

Mr.  Smead  :  Yes,  a  necessary  thing  to  do  to  pro- 
duce the  best  results.    These  two  back  chambers  are 
exhausted  by  two  long  steel  flues  connecting  with  the 
front  chamber,  and  instead  of  this  form  being  round,  as  with  the  old,  T  make  them  thus  : 
long  and  narron'.    No  soot  or  ashes  can  collect  on 
the  sides  or  top,  only  at  the  bottom  at  points  marked 


FORM  OF  FIRE  BOX  EXTENSION, 
1888  Pattern. 


FORM  OF  RETURN  PIPES, 
As  used  from  18H7  to  1888. 


FORM  OF  RETURN  FLUES, 
1888  Pattern. 


With  the  old  furnace  the  janitor  had  tioelne  flues  to  clean,  with  this  but  tv^o. 

With  the  old  air-warmer  the  large  round  pipe  exhausted  the  front  chamber  at 


"a  "  "a. 
Dr. 

the  tojJ,  while  with  this  I  see  that  you  keep  it  on  a  line  considerabh-  below  the  top  of  the  two 
long,  narrow  flues. 

Mr.  Smead  :  Yes,  and  in  this  manner,  to  a  consideraljle  extent,  I  exhaust  lioth  the  long  flues, 
back  and  front  chambers,  some  distance  below  their  top,  instead  of  at  the  top  as  formerly  done 
with  the  old  one. 


30 


i8AA0  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


Dr.  :  Do  you  find  a  saving  in  fuel  ? 

Mr.  Sinead  :  Yes,  about  thirty  per  cent.  Last  fall  I  placed  two  of  each  kind  in  the  same 
building  to  get  at  comparative  results. 

Dr.  :  I  see  you  have  changed  the  location  of  direct-draft  damper.    Why  ? 


Mr.  Siuead  :  With  the  old  one,  located  as  it  was,  the  heating  surface  of  the  front  end  of  fire 
box  and  the  bottom  of  front  chamber  was  lost,  and  flame  coming  so  near  the  front  (which  you 
will  notice  is  somewhat  ornamental)  that  it  was  liable  to  crack  the  castings  ;  while  with  the 
Smead  air-warmer  the  direct  draft  is  direct  into  the  smoke-flue. 

Dr.  :  What  is  the  direct  draft  for  ? 

Mr.  Siuead  :  Sim])ly  to  be  used  a  few  minutes  when  fires  are  started  ;  never  after  that.  The 
furnace  will  not  warni  any  more  air  than  the  ordinary  round  furnace  Avith  this  damper  open. 
There  are  many  other  points  in  which  this  differs  from  and  is  better  than  the  old,  but  I  think  I 
have  mentioned  the  principal  ones.  N^o  furnace  h  of  more  value  to  tJie  purchaser  than  so  much 
old  iroii,  if  it  is  7iot  properly  set,  and  this  brings  us  back  to  the  question  of  ventilation  and 
engineering.    We  will  commence  on  that  when  you  come  in  again. 

Dr.  :  All  right;  but  one  more  question  :  What  did  this  furnace  cost  you,  the  first  one 

you  made  V 

Mr.  Smead  :  I  worked  on  the  drawings  and  patterns  for  eighteen  months,  and  the  first  air- 
warmer  manufactured  cost  me  a  little  over  ^?9,000  ;  I  sold  it  for  $000.  I  don't  believe  you  could 
buy  it  back  from  its  owners  for  $9,000  if  they  could  not  buy  another.  Come  in  tomorrow  and  I 
will  show  you  some  cuts  illustrating  position  of  air  at  different  temperatures,  and  I  think  I  will 
convince  you  that  there  is  but  one  correct  system  of  construction  if  desired  results  are  obtained. 
I  have  never  failed  but  once  to  convince  even  the  most  skej^tical. 

-X-  -X-  -X-  -x-  *  % 

Dr.  —  :  You  said  yesterday  that  you  never  failed  but  once  to  convince  even  the  most 

skeptical. 

Mr.  Smead  :  I  was  once  awarded  a  contract  on  a  school  building  where  the  architect  insisted 
that  the  exit  for  the  foul  air  should  be  at  the  ceiling  instead  of  at  the  floor.  I  failed  to  convince 
him  of  his  error,  but  he  did  consent  to  my  placing  registers  at  the  floor  line  as  well  as  at  the 
ceiling;  this  as  a  compromise  between  us.  The  real  reason  why  he  insisted  on  his  way  was 
because  his  plans  were  so  drawn  when  I  was  called,  and  he  did  not  want  to  admit  that  he  had 
made  an  erroi'. 

Dr.  :  But  how  could  you  warm  a  room  with  an  opening  at  the  top  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  There  wasn't  any  opening  there  !  I  instructed  my  superintendent  to  build  a 
solid  brick  wall  back  of  the  register,  which  he  did,  painted  the  wall  black,  set  his  register,  and 
hung  the  cords  ;  on  one  cord  handle  was  the  word  "open,"  on  the  other  "shut." 

Dr.  :  Did  the  old  gentleman  ever  discover  the  deception  '? 

Mayville,  Mich.,  March  19,  1889. 

Tills  is  to  certify  that  the  "  Mayville  Public  Schools "  have  now  used  the  complete  Smead  system 
of  warming  and  ventilating,  including  the  dry-air  closets,  since  opening  school  in  our  new  school  building 
last  October;  that  our  rooms  are  large  and  high,  and  notwithstanding  we  have  been  compelled  during  the 
past  winter  to  burn  inferior  and  green  wood,  still  the  temperature  has  always  been  kept  comfortable  and 
the  ventilation  simply  perfect.  There  has  been  no  headache,  no  dullness,  no  want  of  pure  air.  We 
consider  the  system  as  near  perfection  as  has  yet  been  attained. 

The  dry-air  closets  are  beyond  question  the  )?e  plus  ultra  in  that  line.  There  is  no  drainage,  no  smell, 
no  trouble.    We  believe  in  this  system  thoroughly,  individually  and  officially. 

A.  B.  ^Maekham, 

Chairman  School  Board. 
Arthur  Peitch. 

Director. 
W.  B.  Curtis,  M.  D.. 

Member  School  Jlo'ird. 


IRAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 

Mr.  Smoad  :  No.  There  were  two  eiyht-rooin  l)iiihling',s  so  arranged,  and  he  admitted  tliat 
tliey  were  the  best  warmed  and  most  thorougldy  ventihited  buikliugs  he  liad  ever  seen,  and  since 
tliat  date  (1883),  I  liave  furnished  warming  and  ventilating  apparatus  for  every  school  liuilding  he 
has  erected — over  twenty-tive  in  number. 

Dr.  :  Does  lie  still  insist  on  ceiling  ventilation  '? 

Mr.  Smead  :  The  next  year  he  did,  and  I  fixed  them  as  before.  The  black  register,  blue 
cords  and  gold  bronze  were  very  ornamental  !  After  the  second  year  he  simply  made  Ids  designs 
for  the  buildings  and  sent  them  to  me,  and  I  arranged  the  flues,  etc.,  as  I  wished,  and  notliing  has 
ever  been  said  about  the  matter.  As  evidence  of  the  successful  operation  of  my  plan,  here  is 
the  report  of  a  chemist  who  examined  the  l)uildings  containing  "top  and  l)ottom  ventilators"  : 

Laf.()Pw\T(_)ry  of  tiiu  Chemist.  \ 
*  ,  February  2(i,  1885.  f 

The  HoNonAiuj;:  

Gentlemen, — I  have  the  honor  to  report  that,  in  compliance  with  directions  of  Commissioner  

to  make  tests  and  analyses  of  the  atmospheric  air  of  the  "  "  and  "  "  school  buildings,  I  have 

jierfoi'med  and  make  the  following  statement: 

On  the  17th  inst.  I  made  some  tests  in  both  of  these  buildings,  which  lead  me  to  the  following  conclu- 
sions as  to  the  normal  coudition  of  the  air  therein.    The  tests  made  in  the  building  were  in  School 

No. !),  on  the  third  floor,  containing  5G  white  children,  and  in  School  No.  6,  on  the  second  floor,  containing  57 

colored  children.    On  the  25th  inst.  I  returned  to  the   building  in  order  to  make  a  quantitative  analysis 

of  the  air. 

Tiie  process  followed  by  me  is  that  laid  down  by  Boussingault,  based  upon  the  absorption  of  carbonic 
acid  bj'  caustic  potash  and  moisture  Ijy  strong  sulphuric  acid,  and  finally  the  absorption  of  oyxgen  by 
copper,  etc. 

The  result  of  these  analyses  (taking  the  aii'  from  various  heights  in  the  school)  are  as  follows : 

Outside  air  0003  Carbonic  Acid.  23.00  Oxygen.  1 

Air  School   By  weight. 

Air  School  No.  9   00045        "        ",  22.94       "  J 

It  is  therefore  concladed  tliatlUe  air  in  the  Sdiool  is  of  normal  coiidilion,  'ivh.ich  is  ollributable  to  good 

ventilation  of  the  rooms. 

It  is  the  atmospheric  air  wliich  is  brought  in  a  large  volume  ).)y  the  heating  apjiaratus  from  outside  into 
these  buildings ;  and  the  warm  air  of  the  rooms,  finding  an  outlet  into  cold  conduits,  eli'ects  a  constant  renewal 
of  air.    Herein  lies  the  secret  of  the  small  (quantity  of  carbonic  acid  found  in  the  rooms  thus  ventilated. 

This  re])ort  refers  more  particularly  to  the  building.    ]  intend  to  again  visit  the  building, 

and  make  an  additional  analysis  of  the  atmospheric  air  therein,  the  report  of  which  will  be  forwarded 
lieieafter.  Very  respectfully, 

 ,  ( 'hcmist,  . 

LAnouAToav  of  tue  Chemist,  [ 
—  ,  March  3,  I8S5.  \ 

The  HoNORAiiLE  

Gentlemen, — Yesterday  I  again  visited  the  School  building,  and  made  there  a  ijuantitati  ve  analysis 

of  the  air  in  Room  No.  4  on  second  floor,  while  occu]iied  by  52  colored  children  and  one  teacher. 
Result  of  analysis  by  weight: 
Carbonic  Acid— .0004.  Oxygen— 22.98. 

This  air  is  of  normal  condition. 

Very  resijectfully,  your  obedient  servant,  ,  Clirmisi,  . 

Dr.  :  Was  your  treatment  of  the  architect  fair? 

Mr.  Smead  :  I  only  considered  final  results  ;  they  are  satisfactory  to  taxjiayers.  As  further 
evidence  of  the  ignorance  and  blindness  of  some  who  should  t;ike  an  interest  in  sanitary  matters, 
I  will  relate  an  incident  in  connection  with  one  of  these  very  schoolrooms.  One  day  my 
engineer  visited  a  sch(wlroom  and  asked  the  teacher  how  she  liked  the  system  of  warming  and 
ventilating.  She  replied  :  "  The  warming  is  all  right,  and  whenever  the  air  is  bad  I  jy/il/  f/ii.f 
cord  and  ojieii  tlie  reglstjr  Hp  tlure,  and  In  a  vcri/  fcxo  iiiomnU>!.  the  nlr  lirre  Ik  dd'ajhtful.''''  I 


*  For  reasons  that  tlio  readc-r  can  readily  understand,  [  do  not  pnblisli  tlie  names,  ljut  can  sliow  the  originals  if  anyone 
wishes  to  see  them.  ISAAC  D.  .SMEAD. 


38 


ISAAC  I).  SMEAD  &  CO..  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


have  always  thought  that  teacher  a  relative  of  a  friend  of  mine  who,  to  get  better  air  in  liis 
sleeping-car  berth,  raised  the  sash  a  few  inclies,  fastened  it  in  position  with  his  knife,  enjoyed 
the  improved  (?)  condition  of  his  berth,  and  in  the  morning  learned  that  he  had  only  raised  the 
inner  sash  of  the  two  that  are  generally  used  in  sleeping-cars.  He  had  not  changed  the  condition 
of  the  air  in  the  slightest  degree,  but  he  thoiif/Jit  lie  had ;  and  the  imagination  has  very  much  to 
do  with  our  hapjiiness  or  unhappiness.  I  told  you  the  first  time  you  came  in  that  I  wanted  you 
to  be  guided  by  facts  rather  than  by  notions  or  tlieories,  and  have  told  you  this  incident  to 
illustrate  the  necessity  of  careful  investigation.  As  a  rule  the  teachers  give  very  little 
thought  to  the  sanitary  condition  of  their  rooms.  Not  long  ago  a  teacher  called  my  attention 
to  "a  strong  current  of  air  coming  into  the  room  at  the  ventilating  register";  she  could  feel  it 
with  her  hand.  I  asked  her  for  a  sheet  of  paper,  and  she  handed  me  a  writing-book.  I  placed 
it  near  the  register,  and  the  force  of  the  air  going  out  was  so  strong  that  it  was  firmly  held 
against  the  iron.  She  expressed  great  surprise,  and  from  that  day  to  this  has  been  a  great  friend 
of  our  system.  But  the  "system"  is  the  same  as  when  she  complained  that  her  room  was  not 
well  ventilated ! 


ScRANTON,  Pa.,  December  G,  1887. 

Comrade  Alexander : 

Dmr  Sir, — Your  favor  of  this  date  is  at  han<].  I  am  glad  to  give  you  what  information  I  can  with  regard 
to  the  Smead  system  of  ventilation  as  I  have  gathered  it  from  observation  and  inquiry.  I  want  to  impress  on 
you  to  start  with  that  I  have  no  pei-sonal  interest  in  this  system,  my  interest  and  advantage  being  rather  with 
the  old  or  other  systems.  Mr.  C.  F.  Mattes,  the  Chairman  of  the  Select  Council;  Mr.  T.  IT.  Watts,  the  Chair- 
man of  the  Common  Council ;  Mr.  Vj.  L.  Walter,  the  architect  of  our  city  building,  and  myself  went  on  Monday, 
a  week  ago,  to  Elmira  to  examine  the  Smead  system  of  heating,  ventilating  and  dry  closets  in  use  in  the 
public  schools  of  that  city.  The  first  building  we  visited  was  heated  by  both  the  Smead  and  another  system, 
the  Smead  system  being  in  a  new  part  which  had  been  in  use  only  a  couple  of  months.  There  were  four 
furnaces  in  this  part,  and  I  think  eight  rooms,  with  about  three  hundred  scholars.  The  heating  and  venti- 
lation were  the  most  perfect  I  ever  saw.  The  doors  and  windows  were  all  closed,  but  the  air  was  as  sweet  and 
pure  as  it  could  be  and  the  temperature  about  70°.  We  passed  from  this  part  of  the  l>uilding  into  tliat  part 
heated  by  anotlier  system,  and  the  change  was  apparent  as  soon  as  we  entered.  In  one  of  these  rooms  a  win- 
dow was  down  at  the  top  and  in  another  the  door  was  open,  and  yet  the  school  smell  was  there.  The 
committee  were  thoroughly  satisfied,  and  so  expressed  themselves.  The  committee  wlien  selected  were  chosen 
with  a  view  to  having  as  conservative  a  committee  as  could  possibly  be  chosen,  and  they  were  calculated  to 
find  all  the  objections  there  might  be.  The  volume  of  fresh  air  pouring  into  the  building  was  sufficient  to 
change  the  air  entirely  in  every  part  of  the  building  at  least  four  or  five  times  an  hour.  After  a  thorough  and 
most  satisfactory  examination  of  the  heating  and  ventilating  features  of  the  system  we  went  down  to  the 
basement  to  examine  the  dry  closet  arrangement.  This  to  me  was  one  of  the  most  marvelous  things  I  ever 
saw.  There  was  not  the  slightest  particle  of  odor  to  be  discerned  even  within  two  feet  of  the  droppings  in 
the  vault,  no  disinfectants  of  any  kind  were  in  sight,  and  the  entire  droppings  of  three  hundred  children  for 
six  weeks  would  not  fill  a  half-biishel  measure.  The  urinals  were  as  clean  and  devoid  of  smell  as  the  closets, 
althongli  they  stood  out  on  the  open  floor  and  were  not  enclosed.  We  visited  another  building  and  saw  its 
operations  there,  and  the  result  was  precisely  the  same,  and  the  testimony  of  the  principals  of  both  buildings 
was  alike  and  in  favor  of  the  Smead  system.  I  have  never  seen  anything  to  compare  with  it,  an  J  I  wish  it 
could  be  introduced  into  all  our  school  buildings.  I  forgot  to  mention  that  in  some  of  the  furnaces  they  were 
using  pea  coal  witli  best  results.  Mr.  Walter  took  all  the  tests  of  passage  of  air  and  can  give  you  them  if  he 
chooses.    We  tested  it  at  the  intake,  dry  closets  (seats  and  vaults)  and  rooms. 

Yours  truly.  Ezra  II.  Ripi'le,  Mayor. 


S^^^EAD  Si 


STOVE  HEATING 


Mr.  Smead  :  I  told  you  yesterday  that  I  would  show  you  some  cuts  representing  the  condi- 
tion of  air  under  various  'temperatures.  Here  is  a  picture  I  have  made  to  'illustrate  in  colors  the 
information  you  would  get  if  you  should  locate  at  as  many  points  a  dozen  thermometers  in  a 
room  warmed  by  a  stove  or  by  direct  radiation  from  a  steam  coil,  the  red  representing  the  warm 
and  the  blue  the  Cold  air.  The  lady  is  busy  and  becomes  too  warm,  and  to  "  cool  off  the  room  " 
has  opened  the  window,  and  at  once  a  stream  of  cold  air  rushes  in,  which,  being  heavier,  falls  to 
the  floor.  The  child  playing  on  the  floor  has  the  croup  that  night.  The  lady  tells  the  doctor 
that  she  "  don't  understand  why  it  should,"  for  "  it  was  in  the  house  all  day,  and  the  house  was 
very  warm."  The  truth  is  that  the  child  "  caught  cold  "  because  it  was  in  the  current  of  cold  air 
that  was  traveling  from  window  to  stove.  Many  school  children  have  become  injured  for  life 
because  in  a  room  heated  by  direct  radiation,  either  from  a  stove  or  a  steam  coil,  someone  having 
opened  a  window  allowed  a  stream  of  cold  air  to  drop  upon  them. 


Normal,  111.,  March  1,  1889. 

Isaac  D.  Smead  &  Co.,  Toledo,  Ohio : 

Dear  Sirs— In  regard  to  the  furnace  you  set  for  us  last  fall,  I  write  to  say  that  we  are  more  than  satisfied  ; 
we  are  ddighled.  Tlie  only  trouble  we  have  had  is  to  keep  from  making  too  much  fire.  The  temperature  is 
even  and  delightful  all  over  the  house.  We  are  especially  happy  in  having  father's  and  mother's  room  so 
nicely  warmed.  Every  winter  before  they  have  had  to  move  into  the  back  parlor  because  we  could  not  heat 
their  room.  We  want  to  thank  your  superintendent  for  his  kind  and  careful  attention  while  introducing 
the  apparatus.  After  the  furnace  was  finished  and  ready  for  use  mother  was  carried  down  cellar.  She  had 
not  been  down  for  more  than  four  years  before.  She  was  very  much  pleased  with  the  looks  of  things;  she 
thinks  the  front  of  the  furnace  too  handsome  for  a  cellar,  it  would  almost  do  for  a  parlor  ornament. 

Very  truly  yours,  Flora  Pisnnell. 


39 


WAKM  AIE 


B 


PIJBI JSIIEI)  HA" 


IE  47 


COLD  AND  FOUL  AIR, 


THE  POPULAR  MISTAKE. 


Di-.   :  But  many  people  seem  to  think  that  warm  air  must  be  bad  air. 

Mr.  Smead  :  The  tem2)erature  of  the  air  is  not  an  index  of  impurity  ;  it  is  upon  the  theory 
that  warm  air  is  bad  air  that  has  caused  people  to  ventilate  (?)  their  rooms  at  the  top,  as  this  cut 
illustrates,  and  that  is  what  may  be  called  the  popular  mistake.  Oiviufj  to  the  commo)ily  mistaken 
belief  that  the  breath  rises,  openings  are  generally  made  at  the  top  of  the  room,  but  as  they  let  all 
warm  air  out  and  leave  the  occupied  portions  cold  and  foul,  they  are  always  closed  in  winter,  and 
consequently  such  ventilation  (?)  has  well  earned  the  reputation  of  humbug. 


REPLY  FROM  THE  CHAIRMAN  OF  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  BOARD,  CHATHAM,  ONT. 

Chatham,  November  14, 1887. 

W.  C.  Wilkinson,  Esq.,  Secretary  Board  of  Public  School  Trustees,  Toronto : 

Dear  Sir,— I  found  your  letter  awaiting  me  on  my  return  from  Toronto.    In  reply  to  your  inquiries  I  beg 

to  say :        .  . 

1.  The  Smead  system  of  heating  and  ventilating  and  their  dry  closet  system  ^vere  introduced  into  our 
new  Collegiate  Institute  building  erected  last  year,  and  have  been  in  constant  use  since  the  opening  of  the 
school  in  January  last.  The  results  have  been  all  we  expected.  Our  eight  schoolrooms,  corridors  and  a  large 
assembly  hall  have  been  heated  and  ventilated  in  a  most  satisfactory  manner. 

2.  The  dry  closet  system  has  received  my  particular  attention.  1  have  personally  observed  it  in  actual 
f)peration  almost  weekly  since  January  last.  It  has  in  our  school  given  unqualified  satisfaction.  Neither  m 
the  schoolrooms  nor  in  the  closets  themselves  have  any  disagreeable  odors  been  perceptible.  The  closets 
were  cleaned  out  in  the  summer  by  sprinkling  a  little  coal  oil  on  the  excrement.  The  whole  was  then  con- 
sumed with  no  troul)le  bv  fire,  leaving  a  small  residuum  of  ashes.  We  keep  a  small  fire  in  the  ventilating 
furnace  when  there  is  no'  fire  in  the  heating  furnaces.  The  introduction  of  this  closet  system  solves,  in  my 
opinion,  a  very  difficult  problem.  I  have  seen  criticisms  of  it  recently  in  one  of  the  Detroit  newspapers.  All 
I  can  say  is  that  our  experience  is  wholly  at  variance  with  these  criticisms.  I  will  be  pleased  to  answer  any 
further  inquiries,  or  I  refer  you  to  our  principal,  Mr.  J.  D.  Christie,  E.  W.  Scane,  W.  H.  Stevens,  or  S.  T.  Martin, 
the  three  latter  forming  with  myself  our  building  committee.         Truly  yours,        A.  Bell,  C.  C.  C.  I.  B. 


40 


PUBLISHED 


SMEAD  Sc  Co.  KAiVs^ 


WARMING  BY  AN  OPEN  FIRE. 


Mr.  Smead  :  Here  is  another  humbug  illustrated,  so  far  as  warming  is  concerned. 
Dr.  :  What  have  you  here  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  A  representation  of  a  room  warmed  by  radiant  heat  from  an  open  fire.  You 
will  notice  that  the  man  reading  has  already  raised  up  one  foot  out  of  the  cold.  By  and  by  he 
will  want  to  turn  around  and  warm  his  back. 

Dr.  :  I  have  always  thought  there  was  a  great  deal  more  sentiment  than  sense  in  some 

of  the  poetry  and  prose  written  about  the  "  open  fire." 

Mr.  Smead  :  The  much  admired  open  fire  is  only  for  the  eye,  and  is  all  right  if  there  is  a 
large  register  somewhere  in  the  room  through  which  there  can  How  a  large  volume  of  warm  air, 
and  the  volume  must  be  considerably  larger  than  the  ca^jacity  of  the  fireplace  flue. 

Dr.  :  Why  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Otherwise  the  fireplace  will  "  draw"  cold  air  into  the  room  through  every  opening 
it  contains,  even  through  the  keyhole.  This  cold  air  falls  to  the  floor,  diffuses  along  over  it  toward 
th-e  hot  fire,  and  the  occupants  of  the  room  suffer  from  cold  feet. 

Dr.   :  That  makes  more  business  for  the  doctors. 


Ithaca,  N.  Y.,  January  27,  1886. 

Isaac  D.  Smead  &  Co.,  Toledo,  Ohio  : 

Gentlemen— Your  system  of  heating  and  ventilating,  which  has  been  in  use  in  our  new  High  School 
building  since  the  1st  of  September  last,  proves  in  every  respect  to  be  most  satisfactory.  During  the  extremely 
cold  weather  a  short  time  since,  when  for  a  full  w  eek  the  thermometer  every  morning  ranged  from  zero  to  10° 
below,  the  temperature  of  our  schoolrooms  at  9  o'clock  was,  in  every  instance,  up  to  68°  or  70°.  We  appreciate 
your  method  of  passing  the  foul  air  under  the  floors,  whereby  they  are  kept  moderately  warm.  Our  pupils  no 
longer  suffer  from  cold  feel  in  the  schoolrooms.  The  ventilation  of  the  rooms  is  excellent;  indeed,  I  hardly  see 
how  it  could  be  improved. 

I  cheerfully  recommend  your  system  of  heating  and  ventilating  as  superior  for  public  buildings  to  any- 
thing before  the  pubUc.  Very  truly  yours,  L.  C.  Fostek,  Sup't  of  Schools. 


41 


I 

IB 


D 


PUBLISHED  l$Y 


WAEM  AIB 


^.SMliAD  &  Co.  jf^^ 


COLD  AND  FOUL  AIK, 


THE  GENERAL  REMEDY  VERY  BAD. 


Mr.  Sniead  :  So  it  does  ;  but  here  is  a  picture  representing  a  condition  that  will  aid  the 
doctors  and  injure  the  people  more  ;  it  represents  a  condition  that  I  have  often  found  to  exist. 
The  register  at  the  top  is  closed,  and  as  the  warm  air  cannot  come  in  except  the  same  amount  of 
the  air  in  the  room  goes  out  of  it,  the  air  already  in  the  room  goes  down  the  cooler  side  of  the 
register  and  is  warmed  over  again.  The  people  breathe  it,  it  goes  to  the  furnace,  is  warmed,  the 
people  breathe  it  again,  it  is  warmed  over  again,  and  after  several  such  revolutions  it  becomes 
fit  only  for  the  sewer. 


New  Lexington,  June  8, 1886. 

Geo.  W.  Keely  : 

Daw  Sir, — In  reply  to  your  letter  of  inquiry  as  regards  the  Smead  heating  and  ventilating,  A\'Ould  say  we 
have  bad  but  little  experience  as  yet,  but  are  well  satisfied  with  what  experience  we  have  had.  It  has  not  its 
equal  for  heating  and  ventilating. 

We  did  not  go  it  blindly,  but  sent  a  committee  to  see  and  investigate  the  matter  thoroughly.  The  com- 
mittee visited  several  large  school  buildings  heated  and  ventilated  by  this  system,  and  came  home  convinced 
it  would  do  all  claimed  for  it.  They  found  that  any  room  in  the  building  could  be  well  ventilated  without 
opening  the  doors  or  windows,  while  in  the  building  in  which  steam  was  used  the  doois  and  windows  had  to 
be  thrown  open  to  secure  the  needed  ventilation.  Our  committee  made  an  arrangement  with  tlie  janitor  of 
one  of  the  buildings  visited  to  wait  until  they  could  be  i^resent  in  the  morning  before  starting  the  fire.  On 
their  arrival  they  found  the  thermometer  in  the  schoolrooms  stood  at  59°,  and  in  just  seventeen  minutes  from 
the  time  the  fire  was  lighted  the  thermometer  showed  70°.  They  also  investigated  dry  closets,  and  found 
them  just  as  represented  by  Mr.  Smead's  agent. 

I  am  interested  in  our  schools  of  Ohio,  and  wish  to  see  the  ventilation  of  our  schoolrooms  improved ;  and 
I  am  confident  we  have  filled  a  long-felt  want  in  the  adoption  of  the  Smead  heating  and  ventilating  system. 

I  am  authorized  by  our  Board  to  say  they  freely  and  gladly  recommend  this  system  as  complete,  and  just 
what  every  school  building  should  have.  Yours  very  respectfully, 

W.  T.  Meloy, 

Clerk  of  Board  of  Education. 


42 


Dr.  :  What  does  this  represent  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  The  position  of  the  warm  and  cohl  air  with  the  cxlianst  register  a  few  feet  off 
the  floor.  I  was  recently  called  to  examine  a  church  that  was  "uncomfortable"  in  the  winter. 
I  went  to  the  building  (an  old  one)  with  the  pastor  and  a  number  of  the  building  committee. 
The  pastor  said  he  could  "  not  understand  why  the  people  complained.  We  have  four  large 
furnaces,  and  it  always  seems  warm  enough  in  the  pulpit."  The  trustee  remarked  that  they 
couldn't  "  all  occupy  the  pulpit  "  and  that  it  "  is  cold  down  among  the  pews." 

Dr.  :  What  was  the  matter  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  The  room  was  supplied  with  at  least  twenty  exhaust  registers,  about  ten  on  a 
side,  and  all  located  as  you  see  represented  in  the  picture,  about  four  feet  from  the  floor.  The 
people  were  in  a  strata  of  air  twenty  degrees  colder  than  that  occupied  by  the  preacher. 

Dr.   :  What  did  you  do  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Explained  to  them  the  cause  of  the  trouble  ;  they  stopped  up  the  so-called 
"ventilators,"  cut  some  holes  in  the  floor,  built  boxes  connecting  the  audience  room  with  the 
four  furnaces,'and  produced  the  condition  shown  in  the  previous  cut,  namely,  changed  from  a 
condition  of  cold  air  to  "  warmed-over  air,"  and  I  lost  my  time  and  expenses  of  the  trip. 


Glens  Falls,  N.  Y.,  August  17,  1886. 

Charles  H.  Peck,  Sup't  Buildings,  Worcester,  Mass. 

Bear  Sir,— Out  central  building  is  heated  and  ventilated  by  the  Smead  system.  We  have  occupied  the 
building  something  more  than  a  year,  and  to  say  that  we  are  fully  satisfied  is  putting  it  very  mildly.  With 
the  tliermometer  30°  below  zero  we  had  no  difficulty  in  warming  the  whole  building  within  an  hour  from 
starting  the  fire.  The  ventilation  is  so  good  that  in  coming  in  from  out  of  doors  the  only  diflerence  you  would 
notice  would  be  in  temperature.  The  space  heated,  exclusive  of  basement,  175,000  cubic  feet.  The  cost  for 
the  year— burning  wood— was  $271.89.  The  cost  with  soft  coal  would  perhaps  have  been  a  little  less.  After 
all,  the  best  thing  of  all  is  the  dry  closets.  Should  you  wish  any  further  information,  I  shall  be  glad  to 
give  it.  Very  truly  yours,  Shei»ian  Williams,  Sup't  Scliools. 


43 


Di-.  :  Why  didn't  they  change  the  location  of  the  registers  to  a  point  on  a  line  with 

the  floor,  as  yon  show  in  this  drawing  '? 

Mr.  Smead  :  They  could  not  do  so  without  great  expense,  as  the  wise  architect  had  com- 
menced the  flues  at  that  point.  The  hot-air  furnace  man  had  taken  all  their  money  for  the  work 
he  had  done,  and  they  had  no  more  with  which  to  secure  a  complete  system.  This  cut  I  have 
last  shown  you  represents  direct  ventilation,  and  is  correct  in  principle.  The  plan  can  be 
built  into  buildings  already  constructed,  and  successfully,  too,  provided  there  is  someone  in 
charge  wJio  knoios  how  to  do  it. 

Dr.  :  This  seems  to  represent  some  of  the  work  I  have  seen  in  one  of  our  public 

school  buildings. 


Toronto,  Ont.,  March  22, 1889. 

Dear  Sir,— In  reply  to  yours  of  the  11th,  would  say  that  the  Toronto  Public  School  Board  sent  a  depu- 
tation of  five  (and  I  accompanied  them)  to  visit  the  leading  cities  of  the  United  States,  for  the  purpose  of 
gathering  the  latest  and  best  improvements  in  heating  and  ventilating  school  buildings.  The  committee 
returned  home  last  night  (hence  the  delay  in  answering  your  letter),  having  visited  nineteen  cities,  and  they 
are  unanimous  in  the  conclusion  tliat  the  Smead  system  is  the  best  and  cheapest  in  use.  We  found  two 
schools  heated  by  steam,  direct  and  indirect,  that  were,  perhaps,  as  well  ventilated  as  if  by  the  Smead  system, 
but  the  cost  was  about  twice  that  of  the  Smead. 

We  have  in  Toronto  the  Smead  furnaces  in  twelve  of  our  schools,  and  the  dry  closet  system  in  nine  of 
them,  and  they  have  proved  very  satisfactor^^  In  view  of  the  fact  that  we  propose  building  nine  new  schools 
and  enlarging  ten  others,  and  the  Board  being  specially  anxious  that  the  schools  be  well  heated  and  venti- 
lated, Avas  the  reason  for  sending  the  deputation,  and  they  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Smead  system 
is  the  best,  and  I  indorse  that  opinion.  There  was  considerable  opijosition  to  it  at  first,  l)ut  after  two  years' 
experiment  with  it  in  some  of  our  schools  the  opposition  faded  away.  Should  you  wish  my  oi^inion  on  any 
of  tlie  details  of  the  system,  I  will  be  pleased  to  answer  any  questions  you  may  ask. 

Yours  truly,  C.  H.  Bishop,  SujjH  of  Buildimgs. 


44 


Mr.  Smead  :  Yes,  in  the  old  buildings  ;  but  in  the  new  ones  I  exhaust  the  air  upon  a  much 
better  plan.  Examine  this  drawing.  You  will  notice  that  by  the  use  of  furring  strips  laid  across 
the  joists  upon  which  the  floors  are  placed,  between  the  floor  and  the  plastering  of  the 
ceiling  below,  a  space  is  formed  and  air  can  freely  pass  either  over  or  between  the  joists.  I  place 
the  exhaust  registers  at  several  different  points  around  the  room,  through  which  the  air  can  pass 
to  space  under  the  floor,  thence  into  ventilating  flue. 

Dr.  :  This  must  prevent  strong  local  currents  such  as  you  must  have  with  the  direct 

ventilation. 

Mr.  Smead  :  Yes,  and  at  the  same  time  warms  the  floor,  as  after  the  air  becomes  heated  the 
air  going  out  is  warm,  the  floor  absorbs  almost  all  the  heat  it  contains  before  it  reaches  the  stacks. 
Another  advantage  is,  that  with  this  plan,  one  ventilating  Hue  can  be  made  to  do  duty  for  several 
rooms  if  properly  located  and  of  proper  size. 

Dr.  :  Not  much  chance  for  cold  feet  in  a  room  constructed  as  you  represent  here. 

Mr.  Smead  :  No  ;  and  that  is  one  reason  why  the  doctors'  bills  among  school  children  in 
Toledo  have  been  so  much  reduced.  You  may  remember  that  I  called  your  attention  to  that 
when  you  were  in  a  few  days  ago. 


Cleveland,  Ohio,  April  20,  1889. 

Isaac  D.  Smead  &  Co. : 

Gents, — Your  heating  apparatus  and  dry  closet  system  is,  in  my  opinion,  the  best  the  city  of  Cleveland 
ever  liad  in  our  public  schools.  It  is  far  superior  to  sewerage  and  steam  heating  which  is  used  in  some  of  our 
school  buildings  at  the  present  time.  Had  I  alone  the  power  I  would  discontinue  the  old  system  and  place 
your  apparatus  and  dry  closet  system  in  their  stead.  As  to  the  Leader  articles  condemning  your  system,  pay 
as  little  attention  to  them  as  possible.  They  are  liable  to  write  all  kinds  of  trash  about  a  person.  I  suppose 
if  you  had  "  greased  "  them  your  system  would  have  been  the  best  in  the  land. 

Very  respectfully.  Ph.  Voelkle,  Ex-member  of  the  Board  of  Education. 


45 


46 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


Mr.  Smead :  We  spent  some  time  yesterday  examining  the  pictures  I  made  representing  air 
in  its  various  positions,  and'  I  tried  to  show  you  that  the  position  it  occupies  is  governed  almost 
entirely  by  its  temperature.  If  I  am  correct  must  it  not  follow  that  successful  VKmnlng  and 
ventilating  depends  upon  the  slcill  of  the  engineer  in  so  arranging  his  plan  that,  with  the  lowest 
degree  of  temperature  comfortable,  the  hest  results  may  he  obtained  ? 

Dr.  :  Why  do  you  say  "  with  the  lowest  degree  of  temperature  "  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Because,  except  such  degree  of  warmth  as  we  may  get  from  the  sun,  all  other 
heat  is  secured  at  an  exp>ense  —  at  a  cost  of  dollars  and  cents,  and  that,  too,  in  several  directions, 
namely,  cost  of  apparatus,  cost  of  fuel  and  cost  of  attendant  to  care  for  ajjparatus  and  supply 
the  coal. 

Dr.  :  I  understand  that  you  claim  to  have  reduced  all  to  the  lowest  point  possible. 

Mr.  Smead  :  Perhaps  not  to  the  lowest  point  it  will  ever  go,  but  we  have  reduced  it  to  the 
lowest  23oint  up  to  this  date,  and  I  am  at  a  loss  to  iinderstand  how  it  can  be  taken  much  lower. 

Dr.  :  Do  you  reach  low  tide  in  every  building  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  By  no  means. 
Dr.  :  Why? 

Mr.  Smead:  There 'are  many  reasons  why.  There  are  no  two  buildings  exactly  alike,  and 
it  is  not  possible  always  to  apply  all  the  rules  to  every  building.  It  would  be  if  we  could  have, 
the  entire  and  absolute  arrangements  from  commencement  to  completion.  When  this  is  done  we 
always  strike  the  low  point. 

Dr.  :  During  one  of  our  first  interviews  you  convinced  me  that  your  warming  appa- 
ratus is  correctly  constructed  to  get  the  best  results  from  the  fuel  used.  What  features  do  you 
consider  next  in  importance  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  No  less  important  than  the  heating  apparatus  is  correct  engineering  or  arrange- 
ment of  cold  and  warm  air  Hues,  location  of  the  apparatus,  a  faithful  execution  of  the  engineer's 
plan,  and  care  of  apparatus  after  it  is  turned  over  to  the  customer. 

Dr.  :  I  wish  you  would  show  me  a  job  of  poor  work,  and  then  show  me  the  same  work 

properly  arranged. 

Mr.  Smead  :  Come  in  tomorrow  and  I  will.  " 

*  -K-  %    ■  -x-  -x-  ^-  * 

Mr.  Smead  :  Good  morning,  doctor ;  I  told  you  yesterday  that  I  would  show  you  two  kinds 
of  engineering.  Here  are  some  pictures  that  fairly  represent  the  ideas  I  wish  you  to  understand. 
(See  cuts  pages  47,  48  and  49.) 

In  1882  I  was  requested  to  submit  an  estimate  to  furnish  warming  and  ventilating  apparatus 
for  a  school  building  in  Youngstown,  Ohio.  I  was  informed  that  there  were  already  in  the 
building  "hot-air  furnaces,"  and  that  "the  only  warm  portion  of  the  building  during  cold 
weather  was  the  basement,"  and  that  was  too  warm  ;  that  about  "  one  hundred  tons  of  hard  coal 
were  burned  annually,"  and  schools  were  dismissed  because  of  cold  schoolrooms  very  often  each 
winter  ;  that  "  board  were  prejudiced  against  furnaces."  Upon  examination  of  the  building  I 
found  exactly  what  I  have  seen  many,  many  times  before,  namely,  small  f  urnaces,  small  v:arm- 
air  pipes,  small  warm-air  flues,  the  basement  room  spoiled  for  any  other  purpose  than  for  fuel  and 
the  "hot-air  traps,"  which  some  inexperienced  hardware  dealer,  or  some  traveling  "  salesman  " 
who  sold  furnaces  on  a  commission^  had  sold  the  board.  They  could  not  be  used  for  play-rooms 
or  for  janitor's  quarters,  and  what  was  worse,  there  were  no  ventilating  flues  in  the  entire  building; 
the  air  of  the  schoolroom  was  simply  horrible.  .  (On  page  4Y  I  represent  a  basement  plan  of  the 
building  as  I  found  it.)  A  careful  measurement  showed  510  feet  of  v-arm-air  pipje.  (On  page  48 
I  represent  the  plan  I  presented  for  the  consideration  of  the  board.) 


ISAAC  D.  SIMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


47 


BASEMENT  PLAN  OF  SCHOOL  15LriLDlNG,  YOTNGSTOWN,  OHIO, 

Showing  application  of  '•  Hot-Air"  System  uf  Wai'wiug.    For  explanation,  see  page  -I'i, 


48 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  <k  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


iJASEMENT  PLAN  OF  SCHOOL  BUILDING,  YOUXGSTOWX,  OHIO. 

Showing  application  of  Smcatl  System  of  Warming.    See  i)a.m'  50. 


PLAN  OF  FIRtST  STORY  OF  SCHOOL  JU'JLDING,  YOUXGSTOWX,  OHIO. 

See  page  50. 


50 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


A  glance  at  eacli  must  convince  anyone  that  the  latter  is  the  move  simple. 

With  the  first,  the  basement  rooms  are  spoiled. 

With  mine,  only  a  small  portion  is  occupied  by  apparatus. 

With  Xh^  fir&t,  four  fires  must  be  built  during  fall  and  spring  months. 

With  mine,  only  tM'o  fires  are  necessary  during  the  fall  and  spring  months. 

With  the  firiit,  there  is  a  large  expense  for  long,  horizontal  tin  pipes. 

With  mine,  there  is  not  a  foot  of  tin  pipe  used. 

With  the  first,  there  was  a  small,  damp,  undergrouad  cold-air  box,  to  be  filled  with  rats,  dead 
cats,  water  and  rubbish  that  always  collect  around  a  school  building. 
With  mine,  a  cold-air  boom  that  can  easily  be  kept  clean. 

With  the  first,  there  are  in  the  building  (built  into  the  walls)  small,  tin  warm-air  Hues  that 
are  expensive  and  diffiodt  to  introduce. 

With  mine,  large  brick  flues  closely  connected  with  the  warm-air  chamber. 
With  the  first,  the  air  is  conveyed  a  long  distance  horizontally. 

With  mine,  the  warm  air  only  has  to  rise,  which  it  must  necessarily  do,  up  the  large  flues.  On 
page  49  I  represent  the  plan  of  first  story,  showing  location  of  warm  air,  smoke  and  ventilating 
flues.  Arrows  represent  entrance  of  warm  air  and  exit  of  foul  air.  My  guarantee  was  :  the  tem- 
perature should  be  nearly  tJie  same  in  cdl  portions  of  the  room  ;  that  the  variation  should  not 
exceed  two  degrees,  and  that  the  entire  building  could  be  n^^armed  within  tioo  hours  after  fires  were 
lighted.  Notwithstanding  the  simplicitg  of  my  plan,  and  our  strong  guarantee,  the  prejudice  of 
the  board  against  furnaces  was  so  strong  that  mg  bid  iras  rejected,  and  steam-heating  apparatus 
was  introduced.  During  the  summer  of  1883,  one  year  later,  the  board,  after  using  the  steam 
apparatus  in  the  building  referred  to  one  winter,  with  a  vacation  of  two  weeks  for  repairs  to 
apparatus,  contracted  with  me  to  furnish  heating  apparatus  for  two  school  buildings,  and  the 
following  letter,  wi'itten  by  the  superintendent  of  Youngstown  schools  to  superintendent  of 
Ithaca,  X.  Y .,  schools,  gives  evidence  of  the  result  : 

Youngstown,  O.,  January  29,  1884. 

Superintendent  L.  C.  Foster,  Itliaca,  N.  Y.: 

Dear  Sie, — Your  favor  received.  In  answer,  would  say  that  we  have  tried  about  every  kind  of  beating 
apparatus,  and  prefer  the  "  Smead  system  of  heating  and  ventilating  "  to  anything  else,  in  respect  either  to 
heating,  ventilating  or  economy.  We  expect  to  put  it  into  two  additional  buildings  next  summer.  Some  of 
our  teachers  who  taught  last  winter  in  a  building  heated  with  steam  say  that  "there  is  no  comparison." 
One  says  the  change  to  Smead  system  has  certainly  imjjroved  her  health. 

Very  truly,  etc.,  I!.  IMcMill.vn,  Superintendent. 

I  will  simply  add  that  during  the  summer  of  1884  the  Youngstown  Board  introduced  our 
api)aratus  in  two  more  school  buildings,  and  refer  to  W.  Ashbaugh,  Esq.,  secretary  of  the 
Board,  for  such  other  information  as  the  reader  may  desire. 

Dr.  — ■  :  I  understand  the  difference  now,  and  it  seems  that  the  Youngstown  Board  did  too. 

Mr.  Smead  :  Yes,  and  so  have  hundreds  of  other  school  boards  been  taught  some  lessons 
during  the  past  few  years.  Tax  payers  would  be  saved  a  large  amount  of  juoney  if  the  lesson 
were  learned  earlier. 

Dr.  :  Docs  our  system  of  constantly  changing  our  public  officers  affect  the  situation  V 

Mr.  Smead  :  It  works  both  ways.  I  don't  know  how  it  could  be  imprpved.  Take  the 
Youngstown  case  to  which  I  have  just  called  your  attention.  I  presume  there  is  not  a  member  of 
the  present  Board  who  knoAvs  anything  about  the  trouble  the  Board  had  previous  to  1883,  or  who 
knows  much  about  the  jn-esent  apparatus  ;  and  the  chances  are  that  the  janitors  know  less.  There 
is  no  one  finding  fault,  and  the  engineer  who  succeeded  is  forgotten.  If  he  had  failed,  the  Board 
and  all  the  patrons  of  the  school  would  have  been  yelling  themselves  hoarse  to  find  him,  and  the 
press  would  not  charge  him  |;l  per  line  for  the  advertisement  of  the  fact  ;  and  stove  dealers 
and  steamfitters  would  be  sending  marked  copies  of  the  papers  all  over  the  country  with  the. 
kindly  ett'oil  to  save  others  from  similar  danger. 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


51 


PERSPECTIVE  VIEW. 

Showing  Air-Warmers,  Cold-Air  Room  and  First  and  Second  Story  Registers  of  plan  referred  to  on 

page  50. 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


53 


Dr.  :  You  have  referred  several  times  to  steamfitters  and  plumbers,  hut  have  said  but 

little  about  steam-heating  apparatus.  There  are  many  who  seem  to  prefer  steam  apparatus  to  hot- 
air  furnaces. 

Mr.  Smead  :  So  there  are,  or  rather  there  loere;  and  as  against  the  "  hot-air  furnace  "  system, 
I  should  prefer  steam  myself  if  I  could  afford  it. 

Dr.  :  Is  steam  apparatus  more  expensive  than  hot-air  furnaces  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Very  much  more  expensive. 

Dr.  :  How  does  the  first  cost  of  the  plant  compare  with  the  cost  of  yours  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  A  first-class  steam-heating  appai-atus  costs  about  twenty-five  per  cent  more  than 
the  Smead  apparatus.  Prices  for  steam-heating  apparatus  are  something  like  values  on  horses. 
You  can  buy  a  horse  for  e|40  or  |400  ;  only  the  thoroughly  jjosted  can  tell  the  difference  —  until 
they  use  them.    Here  is  a  list  of  bids  recently  submitted  on  a  $400,000  building  : 

Steam  heating  $24,000.00 

^     "  "    6,127.00 

"    17,955.23 

"    7,525.00 

Isaac  D.  Smead  &  Co.,  "Smead  apparatus"   26,890.00 

Dr.  :  Who  secured  the  contract  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Isaac  D.  Smead  &  Co. 

Dr.  :  Why  was  there  such  a  variation  in  prices  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  The  low  bidders  did  not  consider  the  question  of  ventilation  at  all,  and  the  high 
bids  were  "  wild  bids,"  submitted  by  firms  exceedingly  anxious  to  "  down  "  us.  Firms  accustomed 
to  execution  of  large  contracts,  and  who  do  strictly  first- class  work,  did  not  bid  at  all. 

Dr.  :  What  would  have  been  their  price  if  they  had  bid  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  On  the  basis  of  prices  for  the  class  of  work  done  in  government  buildings,  where 
every  effort  is  made  to  get  the  best,  the  price  on  the  building  I  have  mentioned  would  have  been 
from  |!:35,000  to  $40,000. 

Dr.  :  You  refer  to  cost  of  apparatus. 

Mr.  Smead  :  Yes,  set  and  ready  for  use. 

Dr.  :  You  admit  that  a  building  can  be  both  warmed  and  ventilated  by  steam  apparatus  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Certainly  I  do.  I  will  further  say  that  almost  any  steamtitter  can  put  in  a 
boiler  and  pipes  enough  to  get  a  building  hot. 

Dr.   :  But  greater  skill  is  required  if  ventilation  is  considered  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Very  much  ;  there  are  not  a  score  of  engineers  in  the  United  States  Avho  thor- 
oughly understand  the  business,  and  they  generally  introduce  some  plan  of  mechanical  ventilation. 

Dr.  :  What  are  your  objections  to  use  of  steam  in,  for  instance,  a  public  school 

building  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  I  am  often  asked  that  question,  and  recently  where  a  contract  was  pending  and 
my  statements  were  to  be  answered  by  a  steam-heating  engineer,  I  submitted  twelve  reasons  why 
steam  apparatus  was  inferior  to  ours.  I  could  have  given  more,  but  "rested"  on  twelve.  Here 
they  are  : 

1.  Because  the  Ji^-st  cost  of  the  Smead  is  from  one-third  to  two-thirds  less  than  for  first-class 
steam  heating. 

2.  Expense  for  fuel  is  from  one-third  to  three-fifths  less. 

3.  Expense  iov  janitor  to  care  for  the  Smead  is  about  one  half  less  than  for  engineer  to  care 
for  steam  apparatus. 

4.  Thorough  ventilation  in  a  schoolroom  cannot  be  secured  with  steam  apparatus  at  any- 
thing like  a  reasonable  cost,  and  is  not  secured  at  edl  where  direct  radiation  is  used,  and  never^ 
either  with  direct  or  indirect,  when  temperature  outside  of  building  is  12°  heloio  zero. 

5.  There  is  no  possible  danger  from  explosion  with  the  air-warmers,  while  with  steam  there 
is  constant  danger,  whether  the  pressure  be  "high"  or  "low." 


54 


ISAAC  D.  .SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


0.  There  are  no  iruter  jyipes  to  freeze,  hurst,  ciul  let  -water  all  throiKjlt,  the  huilditKj,  ruining 
piaster  and  furniture. 

7.  Repairs  for  steam  boilers,  pumps  and  pipes  will  cost  in  tert  years  ten  times  as  iimch,  as  for 
the  /Sinead,  and  must  always  be  made  by  a  skilled  steamfitter,  while  any  janitor  who  is  competent 
to  sweep  a  room  can  replace  broken  or  worn-out  castings  in  the  air-warmers. 

The  Smead  will  warm  and  ventilate  a  building  during  any  Jdnd  of  toeather,  no  matter 
how  Iiard  the  ivind  Mows  or  how  low  the  mercury,  irldle  steam,  contractors  will  seldom  guarantee  with 
mercury  12°  helow  zero. 

9.  The  Smead  air-warmers  are  set  in  connection  with  strong  and  inqnyrtant  patents,  on  a  plan 
of  ventilation  that  no  steam  contractor  can  use. 

10.  Because  with  the  Smead  a  building  can  he  warmed,  in  one  Jiour  from  the  time  fires  are 
fairly  hnnring,  while  from  four  to  six  hours  are  required  'with  steam  ajtparatus. 

\  \.  Three-fifths  of  the  force  generated  by  the  burning  fuel  in  steam  apparatus  is  lost  in  the 
form  of  mechanic.il  motion,  and  does  not  appear  as  temperature  in  the  rooms,  while  with  the 
Smead  seven-eighths  appears  in  I'oom  as  temperature,  and  one-eighth  only  is  lost. 

12.  With  the  Smead  absolute  uniformity  of  temperature  can  be  secured  throughout  a  build- 
ing, while  with  steam-heating  apparatus  rooms  a  distance  from  the  boiler  are  generally  from  ten 
to  fifteen,  degrees  colder  during  cold  and  windy  weather. 

Dr.   :  Who  secured  the  contract  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  T  did.    We  always  do  when  the  actual  facts  are  fairly  considered. 
Dr.   :  Your  indictments  are  severe. 

Mr.  Smead  :  I  can  })rove  every  one  to  be  a  ''ti'ue  bill."  llei'e  are  some  items  which  I  have 
just  cut  from  a  paper.    I  oifer  you  these  on  the  question  of  danger. 

Fort  Wayne,  Ind  ,  January  13. 

St.  Mary's  Catholic  Church,  on  Lafayette  street,  was  entirely  destroyed  today  by  the  explosion  of  the 
boiler  of  the  steam-heating  apparatus.  The  walls  and  tower  are  still  standing,  but  by  order  of  the  Mayor  and 
Council  will  be  taken  down  at  once  to  prevent  further  fatalities.  Anthony  Evans,  the  engineer,  was  instantly 
killed.  He  was  in  the  boiler-room  at  the  time,  engaged  in  getting  the  church  warmed,  to  have  it  ready  for 
about  200  school  children,  vho  were  to  attend  services  later  in  the  afternoon.  Evans'  remains  were  buried  in  the 
debris,  and  the  firemen  were  over  an  hour  digging  thein  out.  Alberta  Williard,  a  school-girl  of  12,  had  just 
left  her  father's  house,  near  by,  on  her  way  to  school,  and  had  reached  the  front  of  the  church  when  the 
explosion  took  place.  One  of  the  large  entrance  doors  was  hurled  outward  with  great  force,  striking  her  on 
the  head,  killing  her  almost  instantly. 

The  church  was  built  about  twenty  years  since,  at  a  cost  of  $30,000,  and  improvements  to  the  amount  of 
$30,000  have  been  added,  making  a  total  loss  of  $00,000,  on  which  there  is  an  insurance  of  $24,000.  There  is 
some  doubt  expressed  about  it  being  collectible.  The  boiler  was  entirely  new.  The  entire  heating  apparatus 
was  put  in  last  September.  Pipes  were  distributed  all  over  the  church,  and  ran  under  nearly  eyery  pew, 
which  cau.sed  the  explosion  to  be  a  general  one.  Parts  of  the  boiler  were  thrown  200  feet  in  the  air,  and  tite  explo- 
sion ivas  felt  over  the  entire  city. — Cliicago  Tribune,  .Tanuary  14,  1886. 

A  NARROW  ESCAPE. 

Oar  Milwaukee  correspondent  writes :  What  might  have  been  a  serious  accident  is  reported  here.  The 
janitress  of  the  18th  Ward  School  lit  the  tires  when  the  steam  boilers  were  empty.  When  they  were  red-hot 
she  discovered  her  error  and  reported  it  to  the  principal,  who  insisted  upon  turning  on  the  cold-water  supply 
to  the  boilers  against  the  better  judguient  of  the  woman,  who  thought  it  was  dangerous  to  do  so.  The  usual 
result  followed,  and  the  boilers  are  a  total  wreck.  Had  they  not  been  sectional  boilers,  several  lives  would 
have  been  lost.  It  is  very  necessary  to  have  competent  men  to  take  care  of  the  steam  apparatus  in  the 
schools. — Exchange. 


Wabash,  Ind.,  February  19,  1889. 

IsA.U'  D.  Smead  &  Co.,  Toledo,  (_)lii(j: 

Gentlemen, — Yoiu's  of  yesterday  received.  In  rejjly  would  say  that  our  building  is  all  that  could  be  desired 
in  an  eight-room  house.  The  heating  is  more  than  adequate;  the  ventilation  is  perfect.  The  dry  closet 
system  meets  all  reiiuirenients.  Indeed,  we  are  more  than  satisfied  —  we  are  well  pleased;  and  when  I  say  we 
I  mean  not  only  the  school  trustees  but  all  of  our  people.         Yours  truly,  J.  H.  Ford, 

Scc'y  of  Board  and  Health  Officer  of  Wabash  County. 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


55 


BLOWN  THROUGH  THE  HOTEL. 

DISASTROUS  EXPLOSION  OF  A  STEAM  HEATER  AT  EAGLE  BRIDGE. —  MEN  AND  WOMEN  SCALDED  AND  HURLED  THROUGH 
WINDOWS  AND  DOORS  INTO  THE  SNOW. —  HALF  A  TON  OF  IRON  THROWN  INTO  THE  ROOM  ABOVE,  AND  TWO 
LADIES  DASHED  TO  THE  CEILING  THERE. —  THE  INJURED. 

[special  TO  THE  WORLD.] 

Troy,  N.  Y.,  December  22. 
A  boiler  used  for  heatino;  Dell  Brown's  Hotel,  at  Eajile  Bridge,  twenty  miles  east  of  here,  exploded  this 
afternoon  with  terrible  effect.   The  severely  injured  are  : 
Dell  Brown,  scalded  and  blown  through  window. 
Mrs.  Dell  Brown,  cut,  bruised  and  scalded. 
Miss  Ann  Hagan,  burned,  bruised  and  nose  broken. 
Charles  Kirby,  blown  through  a  door,  and  fell  thirty  feet  distant. 
Mrs.  Charles  Kirby,  burned  and  both  legs  broken. 
Cornelius  McCann,  burned  and  blown  through  window. 

The  explosion  completely  wrecked  the  waiting-room  and  a  large  portion  of  the  hotel.  The  floor  of  the 
sitting-room  in  which  Mrs.  Kirby  and  Mrs.  Brown  were  was  blown  to  pieces,  the  women  being  lifted  to  the 
ceiling  above  and  falling  back  among  the  wreckage.  Both  of  Mrs.  Kirby 's  legs  were  broken  below  the  knees, 
her  face  was  cut  and  her  hands  seriously  burned.  Her  husljand  went  to  her  rescue  and  pulled  her  out 
through  a  window  onto  a  balcony.  She  is  apparently  the  most  seriously  injured  of  all,  although  it  is  believed 
she  will  recover.    Mrs.  Brown  was  badly  cut  and  burned  about  the  face. 

Dr.  Hudson,  of  Hoosick  Falls,  was  telegraphed  for,  and,  with  Drs.  Shaw,  Ridon,  Ashton  and  Myers, 
attended  the  injured. 

In  the  sitting-room  the  plastering  was  torn  off  and  the  furniture  wrecked,  a  large  piano  being  thrown 
completely  over  and  broken.  The  top  of  the  heatei-,  which  weighs  half  a  ton  or  more,  was  thrown  up  into  the 
sitting-room  and  is  held  there  by  steam  pipes,  whicli  are  bent  and  twisted.  The  boiler  was  placed  in  the 
hotel  about  a  month  ago.  The  cause  of  the  explosion  is  unknown.  Mr.  Brown  thinks  it  was  from  coal  gas 
but  the  prevailing  opinion  is  that  a  stop-cock  was  turned  ofl'in  an  upper  room,  whic'h  caused  the  boiler  to  fill 
with  steam  and  burst  under  the  pressure. 

FRIGHTFUL  EXPLOSION  IN  A  HOSPITAL. 

Lincoln,  Neb.,  February  5. 
At  ?>  o'clock  this  afternoon  two  boilers  in  the  engine  room  of  the  State  Hospital  for  the  Insane  exploded, 
completely  wrecking  the  engine  house,  killing  two  patients,  injuring-  two  others,  and  the  two  engineers  will 
lirobal>ly  die  before  morning. 

Extract  from  last  (1888)  annual  report  of  Board  of  Education,  Wasliington,  D.  C: 

VENTILATION. 

"The  schoolrooms  that  have  been  provided  during  the  last  seven  years  are  cheerful,  thoroughly  venti- 
lated and  healthful.  I  am  glad  to  be  able  to  say  the  system  of  ventilation  employed  ventilates — and  ventilates 
in  spite  of  the  preoccupation  of  the  teacher  or  of  the  jtmitor.  In  respect  of  heating,  lightivg  and  ventilation,  notlting 
more  i'x  to  be  desired  in  the  new  buildings." 

On  the  question  of  ccst  of  fuel  I  ask  you  to  examine  this  table,  showing 
COST  OF  WARMING  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS. 


IN  TOLEDO. 

For  Winter  of  1S84-5  : 

With  Smead  apparatus   122.79  per  schoolroom. 

With  steam-heating  apparatus   52. ()S    "  " 

With  hot-air  furnace   80.25    "  " 

IN  DETROIT. 

With  Smead  apparatus  (frame  building)   $25.25  per  schoolroom. 

With  steam-heating  apparatus  (brick  building)   54.00    "  " 

IN  WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

With  Smead  apparatus   $24  .20  per  schoolroom. 

With  steam-heating  apparatus   5(i.OO    "  " 


66 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


On  the  question  of  repairs,  I  refer  you  to  the  extract  from  the  Columbus,  Ohio,  report  (page 
21).  There  are  two  school  buildings  in  Columbus,  both  of  the  same  size  —  twelve  rooms.  One  is 
warmed  with  steam  apparatus  that  cost,  including  closets,  over  |8,000  ;  the  other  with  mine,  which 
cost,  including  closets,  less  than  |4,000.  Tde  rteam  apparatus  is  cared  for  by  a  skilled  engineer. 
The  one  containing  mine  is  entirely  cared  for  by  a  janitor.  During  the  winter  of  1887  and  1888, 
84  tons  of  soft  coal  were  burned  in  my  apparatus,  and  168  tons  used  in  the  steam-heated  building. 

Dr.  :  How  about  the  question  of  exposure  ;  is  yours  less  exposed  to  the  wind  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  On  the  contrary  it  is  very  much  more  exposed,  one  being  in  the  business 
portion  of  the  city  and  the  other  (ours)  almost  out  in  the  country. 

Dr.   :  In  your  eleventh  objection  to  steam  you  refer  to  a  loss  of  three-fifths  of  the 

force.    Do  you  speak  from  practical  experience  or  do  you  quote  from  Sewall  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Both.    Here  is  what  Sewall  says  : 

Another  method  of  heating  is  by  driving  steam  through  coils  of  iron  pipe.  Not  only  does  this  method  of 
warming  render  ventilation  impos-ible,  hut  it  is,  perhaps,  the  most  uneconomical. 

Now  heat  may  manifest  itself  in  two  ways,  namely,  as  temperature  and  as-  expansion.  All  the  force 
generated  by  the  burning  fuel  will  appear  in  one  of  these  forms,  or  a  part  of  both.  Water  at  the  normal 
pressure  can  be  heated  to  only  212°  Fahrenheit.  Consume  as  much  fuel  as  you  will,  and  the  water  will 
remain  at  212°  Fahrenheit;  but  the  force  generated  by  the  consuming  fuel  is  not  lost,  but  is  transmitted 
to  the  water  in  the  form  of  expansion,  and  the  water  is  converted  into  steam.  Now,  if  the  water  be 
confined,  and  this  tendency  to  expansion  resisted,  the  temperature  can  be  elevated  to  almost  any  extent; 
bat  if  not  thus  resisted  the  temperature  will  not  rise  above  212°  Fahrenheit.  As  it  is  necessary  to  force 
the  steam  through  the  pipes,  this  expansion  must  be  resisted  until  sufficient  force  is  accumulated  to  accomplish  this 
result.  Noiv,  this  mechanical  work  is  performed  at  the  expense  of  temperature.  If  a  building  is  warmed  by 
steam,  three-fiflhs  of  the  force  generated  by  the  burning  fuel  is  consumed  in  the  form  of  mechanical  motion.  The 
temperature  of  the  steam  in  the  boiler  may  be  400°  or  -500°  Fahrenheit,  but  the  pipes  never  indicate  a 
temperature  above  212°  Fahrenheit.  I  have  never  found  it  above  190°  Fahrenheit.  On  the  other  hand, 
air  may  be  heated  to  600°  Fahrenheit,  with  but  slight  expansion,  so  that  nearly  all  the  force  generated 
by  the  burning  fuel  appears  as  tempei'ature,  while  scarcely  a  particle  appears  as  mechanical  motion. 
Here  we  see  why  Ericsson  failed  in  his  attempt  to  use  heated  air  instead  of  steam  as  a  motive  power. 
Heat  being  applied  to  the  air  appears  as  temperature,  but  being  applied  to  water  appears  as  expansion, 
or  mechanical  motion. 

Mr.  Smead  :  You  will  notice  that  Sewall  says  that  heat  may  "  manifest  itself  in  two  w^ays," 
etc.  Now  you  will  remember  that  we  are  mainly  interested  in  the  question  of  vKirming.  We 
have  no  machinery  to  run,  we  simply  wish  to  get  as  much  warmth  as  possible  from  the  fuel  con- 
sumed. 

Dr.   :  To  warm  a  room  how  could  the  fuel  be  burned  to  get  the  most  degrees  of  heat 

in  the  room  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  By  piling  it  upon  the  floor  and  burning  it,  assuming  that  we  get  perfect  com- 
bustion. The  Cave-dwellers,  Esquimaux  and  North  American  Indians  have  appreciated  the 
economy  of  this  method.  I  claim  almost  an  equal  economy  for  the  system  of  heating  that  I  shall 
describe,  and  a  plan,  too,  that,  unlike  the  steam-heating  apparatus  with  its  miles  of  pipes,  does  not 
ruin  the  basement  for  other  uses  than  for  heating  apparatus. 

Locate  an  air-warmer  in  the  basement ;  surround  it  with  a  wall  of  non-conducting  material 
(brick  answers  very  well)  ;  have  the  space  between  heating  apparatus  and  wall  in  free  com- 
munication with  outer  air  below,  and  construct  free  conduits  into  the  rooms  above  to  be 
warmed.  Now,  as  soon  as  the  fire  is  started  (the  products  of  combustion  being  disposed  of  by  a 
special  flue)  the  air  in  immediate  contact  with  the  heated  iron  of  the  furnace  is  displaced  upwards 
by  the  cooler  and  heavier  air  from  without,  and  is  conveyed  by  the  warm-air  conduits  into  the 
rooms  above.  Thus,  you  see,  the  warming  of  the  rooms  begins  with  the  first  consumption  of  the 
fuel,  and  there  is  no  warming  of  a  volume  of  water  (or  more  often  thawing  out  a  volume  of  ice) 
up  to  212°  before  heat  is  obtained  in  the  rooms  above. 

Dr.  :  I  notice  that  you  admit  that  successful  warming  can  only  be  secured  by  means 

of  proper  ventilation. 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


67 


Mr.  Smead  :  Three  things  more  are  necessary,  doctor,  namely,  properly  constructed  warming 
apparatus,  successful  engineering  as  to  its  location,  and  decent  care  after  apparatus  is  properly  set. 

Dr.  :  Your  plan  seems  correct,  and  I  do  not  see  any  necessity  for  the  use  of  steam  to 

convey  the  heat  generated  to  the  room  to  be  warmed,  as  the  force  necessary  to  make  it  go  there 
must  be  at  the  expense  of  fuel. 

Mr.  Smead  :  So  it  is;  "three-fifths  of  the  force  generated  by  burning  fuel  is  lost,"  M'hile 
with  the  natural  system  (ventilation  by  fines),  very  little  is  lost,  as  they,  if  properly  constructed, 
do  their  duty  "  without  charge." 

Dr.  :  But  wliy  is  steam  so  often  used  ? 

Mr.  Smead:  It  is  not  used  nearly  as  much  as  it  used  to  be,  and  but  little  in  schools,  churches,  etc. 
Dr.  :  In  wliat  class  of  buildings  would  you  recommend  its  use  ? 

Mr.  Smead:  There  are  several  kinds;  for  instance,  a  business  block  containing  a  large 
number  of  ofiices,  elevators,  with  large,  open  corridors,  etc.,  but  iierer  where  the  question  of  ven- 
tilation or  cost  is  an  important  factor  to  be  considered.  In  a  factory  where  the  exhaust  steam 
from  engine  can  be  used  and  heat  thus  secured  costs  nothing,  and  heating  by  direct  rddiation  is 
the  only  plan  that  can  be  used  (owing  to  construction  of  the  building),  then  I  would  use  steam  ; 
or  in  any  other  building  where  power  is  required  and  the  only  thing  to  consider  is  the  question 
of  temperature.  But  simply  to  secure  uniformity  of  temj)eratx(,re  and  ventUation  the  use  of  steam  is 
entirely  unnecessary,  as  better  results  can  be  secured  at  much  less  cost  and  entirely  without  danger. 

Dr.  :  Is  there  really  so  much  danger  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  There  is  so  much  that  if  either  of  my  two  children  were  attending  school  in 
many  of  the  buildings  in  which  I  have  been,  I  should  be  in  constant  fear  for  their  lives.  The 
talk  about  "  low  pressure "  and  "twelve-year-old  boys"  acting  as  engineers  for  steam-heating 
apparatus  is  all  nonsense.    Of  course  "low  pressure"  is  much  safer  than  " high  pressure." 

Dr.   :  Manufacturers  of  steam-heating  apparatus  talk  a  great  deal  about  "indirect 

heating." 

Mr.  Smead  :  Yes,  so  tliey  do,  since  necessity  for  ventilation  became  so  apparent  and  we 
succeeded  with  a  system  of  indirect  heating.  Twenty-five  years  ago  no  one  heard  them  proclaim 
its  merits,  and  they  never  wt)uld  have  done  so  but  for  the  remarkable  success  of  our  work. 

Dr.  :  Previous  to  tliat  date  steam  heating  was  by  direct  radiation  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Yes,  by  coils  placed  either  around  the  sides  of  the  room  or  bunched  together 
in  a  radiator. 

Dr.  :  But  these  would  only  warm  the  air  in  the  room  ;  a  stove  will  do  that. 

Mr.  Smead  :  A  stove  would  (b)  better  than  the  steam  coil,  as  the  air  used  to  sujtport  com- 
bustion of  fuel  in  the  stove  is  of  necessity  drawn  from  the  room,  and  to  that  extent  ventilates  it. 
Sewall  says  : 

Few  persons  seem  to  understand  just  how  the  air  in  a  room  is  warmed.  It  is  generally  thou.uht  that  the 
air  in  immediate  contact  with  the  burning  fuel  or  lieated  stove  is  warmed,  and  that  this  warms  another,  and 
so  on  until  all  the  air  in  the  rooui  is  warmed.  Not  so  at  all.  The  air  next  to  the  burning  fuel,  in  the  case  of  the 
open  fire,  is  warmed,  and  for  the  most  part  goes  up  the  chimney.  A  small  part,  however,  arises,  and  the  cold 
air  takes  its  place.  The  heated  air  that  rose  slowly  cools,  and  is  displaced  by  the  warmer  and  rarer  air  just 
escaped  from  immediate  contact  with  the  fire,  and  after  a  time  falls  and  is  again  warmed.  So  that  we  see 
only  a  small  part  of  the  air  of  the  room  is  warmed,  while  whole  oceans  are  heated  and  escape  from  the 
chimney.  If  a  stove  be  used  for  heating,  only  a  small  part  of  the  air  comes  in  contact  with  the  burning  fuel 
— in  fact,  just  enough  to  oxidize  tlie  fuel,  while  the  air  about  is  heated  and  rarified,  and  then  pressed  up 
by  the  cooler  and  heavier  air,  which  is  in  turn  heated  and  forced  up,  and  thus  we  have  a  current  of  air 
established,  moving  toward  the  stove,  then  up  to  and  along  the  ceiling,  then  down  to  be  warmed  again.  But 
as  this  current  takes  place  in  a  closed  room  (and  the  tighter  the  better,  we  tliink),  of  course  it  is  the  same  air 
moving  in  a  circle,  to  which  we  are  constantly  imparting  the  carbonic  acid  of  the  breath,  which  is  warmed 
and  circulated  and  breathed  again,  and  if  our  rooms  were  absolutely  air-tight  in  a  short  time  the  air  would 
be  so  saturated  with  carbonic  acid  as  to  produce  death. 

The  "  hot-air  furnace  "  system  had  failed,  people  must  be  n'lrrm,  the  steamfittcr  could  (as  I 
have  said  before)  put  in  a  large  boiler,  introduce  pipes  in  the  rooms,  and  get  the  building  /ie>t. 


68 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


This  was  the  condition  of  affairs  when  we  conamenced  to  work  for  proper  construction  of  flues 
for  supply  and  exhaust.  The  result  of  our  success  with  the  system  of  ventilation  and  progress 
in  inventing  an  "  air-wai'iner "  was  to  frighten  the  steam-heating  fi-aternity,  and  so  they  com- 
menced to  advertise  that  they  could  do  with  their  apjsaratus  anything  we  could  do  with  ours  ;  some 
of  them  would  guarantee  to  cure  corns  with  their  appai'atus  if  customers  should  request  it. 
Dr.   :  Didn't  you  have  patents  to  protect  yourselves  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Yes;  but  for  selling  purposes  what  does  the  imitator  care  about  that?  They 
have  always  been  very  careful  to  put  in  enough  pipe  for  direct  radiation  to  heat  the  rooms  in 
cold  weather  ;  the  indirect  is  generally  a  blind. 

Dr.  :  Why  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Because  the  temperature  of  the  steam  in  the  pipes  cannot  be  over  212  degrees 
(generally  is  about  190  degrees)  ;  and  a  coil  as  ordinarily  placed  in  a  cold-air  conduit,  with  air  at 
say  10  degrees  below  zero,  cannot  stand  the  cold,  steam  is  condensed  and  pipes  are  frozen. 

Dr.  :  But  even  if  such  were  not  the  case  and  pipes  could  warm  the  air,  would  not  the 

same  importance  attach  to  proper  construction  of  flues  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Certainly  it  would,  and  there  is  where  they  fail  again.  Our  system  of  con- 
struction varies  as  buildings  vary  ;  our  skill  as  engineers  is  the  result  of  many  experiments  and 
past  experience.  They  would  introduce  in  a  building  something  they  had  seen  built  under  our 
supervision  in  some  other  building  differing  in  many  ways  from  theirs  ;  failure  followed  in  both 
heating  and  ventilation,  and  in  some  instances  I  have  known  them  to  blame  us!  As  a  member  of 
the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  Ohio  Penitentiary  for  several  years,  I  have  gained  considerable 
information  concerning  crime,  and  have  some  acquaintance  with  criminals  ;  hut  I h/ive  more  sym- 
patJbjj  for  the  Jii'/Jaocdj  robber  than  for  the  thief  v>ho  would  steal  the  ideas  of  a  mechartic  or  2>ass  as 
his  otvn  the  ideas  aiid  designs  of  others.  I  have  read  circulars  iss^ied  by  vjoidd-he  competitors  con- 
taimng  whole  pages  cut  from  our  publications.  I  ha  ve  known  them  to  copy  our  cuts,  errors  and  <dl  ! 
One  came  near  getting  into  th.e  peiaitentiary  for  violating  the  copyright  la.w. 

Dr.  :  I  hear  them  talk  about  ''direct  indirect"  ;  tell  me  something  about  that. 

Mr.  Smead  :  It  is  too  much  of  a  humbug  to  waste  much  time  on.  The  indirect  failed  for 
reasons  I  have  given,  and  as  the  main  dependence  had  always  been  on  the  direct  pipes  (pipes  in 
the  rooms),  they  all  went  to  that  with  a  rush  and  commenced  to  yell  in  favor  of  "  direct  indirect." 
You  ask  what  it  is.  Simply  this  :  a  few  holes  bored  through  the  walls  back  of  the  pipes, 
through  which  holes  fresh  air  is  supposed  to  come  from  outside  and  pass  into  the  room  over  the 
pipes.  I  recently  examined  a  school  building  said  (by  the  architect  and  steamfitter)  to  be  "well 
ventilated."  It  contained  the  "direct  indirect"  system.  Tlie  fresh  air  for  sixty  pupils  was 
supplied  through  eleven  holes  one  inch  in.  diameter. 

Dr.   :  How  large  should  the  opening  have  been  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Not  less  than  16  by  30  inches. 

Dr.  :  What  means  had  been  supplied  for  exit  of  air  from  the  room 't 

Mr.  Smead  :  A  register  at  the  ceiling. 

Dr.  :  But  that  would  let  the  warmest  and  best  air  out  ! 

Mr.  Smead  :  No,  it  wouldn't,  for  the  teacher  had  closed  it  I 
Dr.  :  Was  the  room  warm  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Yes,  hot  as  an  oven,  and  air  so  foul  that  the  president  of  the  board  (who  had 
voted  for  the  apparatus)  and  I  were  glad  to  go  outside  into  the  rain. 

Dr.  :  But  what  about  the  pupils,  who  were  obliged  to  remain  'i 

Mr.  Smead  :  Oh  !  they  must  stand  it.  They  go  home  tired,  and  their  parents  say  they  are 
"  overworked  and  need  rest."  Sometimes  they  get  sick  and  die,  and  the  preacher  talks  about  the 
"dispensation  of  Providence."  So  it  was;  but  Providence  made  that  law  of  hygiene  long  before 
school  boards  were  organized  or  air-tight  rooms,  heated  by  direct  radiation,  were  constructed. 

Dr.  :  But  some  claim  that  "  air  heated  by  steam  coil  is  more  moist." 

Mr.  Smead  :  Another  false  claim.  But  do  you,  a  doctor,  intimate  that  "moist  air"  is 
beneficial? 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


69 


Dr.  :  I  know  it  is  not,  and  I  did  not  say  it  was.    I  only  mentioned  the  claim  made  by 

the  steamfitters. 

Mr.  Smead  :  They  claim  anything  to  secure  a  contract.  I  have  known  them  to  claim  that  a 
"  warm  floor  is  unhealthy,"  and  argue  against  a  warm  floor  in  a  schoolroom  because  "  it  dried  the 
leather  in  shoes  of  pupils  and  makes  them  brittle." 

Dr.   :  Medical  books  and  doctors  say  that  we  should  keep  the  feet  warm  and  the 

head  cool. 

Mr.  Smead  :  So  does  common  sense;  but  I  cannot  always  keep  my  head  cool  when  I  hear 
some  of  the  talk  of  the  manufacturers  of  steam-heating  ap]jaratus.  But  they  are  not  all  so 
foolish  ;  here  is  a  letter  I  recently  received  from  one.  I  have  never  met  the  writer,  but  am  told 
that  he  is  very  competent  in  his  business. 

Your  system  is  hound  to  go  ahead ;  you  cannot  keep  it  from  the  people  when  they  find  it  out,  and  all 
that  is  necessary  for  you  to  do  is  to  go  and  "proclaim  the  gospel  to  all  the  nations  of  the  earth."  This  is  an 
age  of  progress,  and  I,  for  one,  am  not  satisfied  to  float  along  on  the  (jld  plank  of  "good  enough."  I  say  that 
steam  heating  is  not  "good  enough"  ;  and,  also,  that  your  air-warmer  and  system  of  ventilation  is  the  l)est,  as 
far  as  it  goes;  but  you  do  not  let  it  go  far  enough.  I  wish  you  would  establish  an  office  in  our  city,  and  wake 
our  sleepy  firms  up  to  the  fact  that  the  people  want  something  better  than  they  are  receiving  for  their  money. 

I  should  like  very  much  to  meet  you  in  person.  I  hope  you  will  not  accuse  me  of  juiiii)ing  at  coni'lusions. 
I  iiave  never  been  satisfied  with  steam  heating.  I  have  been  studying  the  Smead  system  more  than  a  year. 
I  cannot  see  why  the  frank,  honrst  manner  in  which  you,  in  your  recent  pu))lication,  acknowledge  the 
former  mistakes  made  by  yourself  and  your  jiredecessors,  and  the  sound  reasoning  l)y  which  you  arrive  at  your 
present  conclusions,  should  not  l)e  convuicing  even  to  the  most  skeptical.    1  blushingly  confess  myself  a  convert. 

Yours  truly,   . 

  December  21,  1886. 

Dr.  :  But  why  is  steam  used  at  all  in  public  school  buildings  ?    They  only  require 

rooms  warmed  a  few  hours  each  day. 

Mr.  Smead  :  It  is  not  used  very  much  now  ;  not  introduced  into  many  new  buildings.  Of 
course,  when  plant  is  already  in  use,  people  as  a  ride  do  not  like  to  incur  the  expense  of  a  change, 
although  I  have  removed  very  expensive  plants  from  more  than  one  hundred  buildings  and 
introduced  my  own  —  for  instance,  three  large  public  school  buildings,  including  the  High  School 
building,  in  Toledo.  The  plant  removed  from  the  High  School  here  cost  over  |20,000,  original 
cost  and  rejxnr.^t.  I  also  took  out  the  steam  apparatus  from  Defiance  County  Court  House.  Here 
is  a  clipping  from  a  Defiance  paper  upon  the  subject  : 

THE  TRUTH!! 

A  PLAIN  STATEMENT   OP   PACTS   REGARDING   THE    NEW    SYSTEM    OP    HEATING    IN    OUR  COUNTY   BUILDINGS,  WHICH 
PROVES  THE  ARTICLE  IN  LAST  WEEK's  DEFIANCE  "  EXPRESS"  TO   BK  UTTERLY  AND  MALICIOUSLY  FALSE. 

Ever  since  the  County  Commissioners  began  the  removal  of  the  old  steam-heating  api)aratus  from  the 
court  house  and  jail,  and  the  construction  of  the  Smead  system,  a  certain  set  in  the  county,  who  have  always 
been  noted  for  their  unfairness  in  everything  from  which  political  capital  could  1)e  made,  and  their  total 
disregard  of  the  truth  concerning  any  such  matters,  have  lieen  circulating  reports  throughout  tlie  county 
calculated  to  mislead  those  who  may  not  know  the  facts  concerning  the  causes  which  led  the  County  Com- 
missioners to  make  the  change  aliove  referred  to.  Foi'  this  reason  we  have  taken  considerable  iiains  to 
examine  the  whole  sulyect,  with  a  view  to  giving  our  readers  a  full,  true  and  just  statement  of  the  subject. 

Ever  since  the  steam-heating  apparatus  was  placed  in  the  court  house  and  jail  it  has  been  a  soui-ce  of 
trouble  to  the  Board  of  Commissioners  on  account  of  the  very  poor  results  obtained  frf)m  it,  and  more  particularly 
on  account  of  the  cost  of  operating  it  and  keeping  it  in  repair.  Several  changes  were  made  l)y  the  difl!'erent 
Boards  of  Commissioners  with  a  view  to  obtaining  lietter  results,  and  a  saving  in  the  amount  of  fuel  used;  but 
no  benefit  of  any  consequence  was  ol)tained  by  such  changes.  For  several  years  the  idea  of  removing  the 
steam-heating  apparatus,  and  the  adoi)tion  of  some  other  system  in  its  place,  has  l»een  under  considerat  ion  l)y 
the  commisssioners ;  and  yet,  on  account  of  the  expense  growing  out  of  such  change,  and  the  possil)ility  of  any 
system  of  heating  whicli  might  be  adopted  proving  to  l)e  a  failure,  the  matter  has  l)een  postjioned  fi-om  yeai'  to 
year  until  during  the  last  summer.  We  have  not  l)een  able  to  examine  into  the  cost  of  maintaining  tin' old 
steam  apparatus  for  any  nunilier  of  years,  but  an  examination  of  the  accounts  in  the  auditor's  ofiice  shows  that 


00 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


the  cost  of  the  fuel  for  the  year  ending  September  1,  1888,  was  $1,533.56.  If  this  were  all,  we  still  believe  the 
commissioners  would  be  justified  in  making  the  change  which  they  have  made.  But  this  is  not  all  by  any 
means.  During  the  year  1887  it  cost  for  repairs  in  and  about  the  old  steam-heating  apparatus,  $613.26.  We 
are  advised  by  those  who  have  the  means  of  knowing  that  neither  the  cost  of  the  fuel  nor  the  cost  of  the 
repairs  given  above  are  much  if  any  above  the  average  of  each  year.  But  this  was  not  all  that  entered  into  the 
consideration  of  the  question  by  the  County  Commissioners.  Nearly  all  of  the  steam  pipes  in  and  about  the 
basement  in  the  court  house  had  V)ecome  rusty  and  defective,  so  that  it  was  but  a  question  of  time  when  an 
entire  new  set  of  pipes  and  fixtures,  as  well  as  new  pumps  and  l)oiler,  would  he  required  in  order  to  use  the 
apparatus  at  all.  This  would  cost  a  much  larger  sum  than  the  cost  of  jiutting  in  the  system  which  is  now  in 
operation.  An  examination  made  by  the  County  Commissioners  of  other  court  houses  and  other  buildings 
where  the  Smead  heating  appai-atus  is  in  use  convinced  the  commissioners  that  the  cost  of  maintaining  the  old 
steam  apparatus  was  more  than  double  what  it  would  be  if  the  Smead  system  were  used  in  its  stead. 

In  the  Defiance  Union  School  l)uilding  the  Smead  lieating  apparatus  has  been  used  for  about  six  years. 
The  average  cost  of  the  fuel  for  this  building  per  year  has  been  about  $575,  while  the  cost  of  repairs  has  been  less 
than  $10  per  year.  When  it  is  considered  that  a  greater  extent  of  sjtace  is  heated  in  the  Union  School  building 
than  in  the  court  house  and  jail  combined,  one  can  readily  see  that  the  cost  of  maintaining  the  old  heating 
apparatus  in  the  court  house  and  jail  was  much  greater  than  it  should  be. 

Before  any  change  was  decided  upon  the  matter  was  carefully  discussed,  and  the  opinion  of  those  who 
had  the  means  of  knowing  with  what  success  the  Smead  system  could  be  operated  was  obtained.  These 
ojiinions  were  obtained  from  democrats  and  republicans  alike,  and,  without  a  single  exception,  every  person 
who  was  consulted  ui)on  the  subject,  who  had  the  means  of  knowing  the  results  to  be  obtained  by  the  Smead 
lieating  system,  was  heartily  in  favor  of  the  adoption  of  that  system  by  the  commissioners  for  the  heating  of 
the  court  house  and  jail.  Tlie  conunissioners,  therefore,  decided  to  remove  the  old  steam  apparatus,  and  to 
adopt  the  Smead  system. 

Those  who  have  not  the  means  of  knowing  the  cost  of  this  change  have  been  told  hy  the  unscruinilous 
jiarties  referred  to  in  the  beginning  of  this  article  that  an  enormous  amount  of  money  was  expended  in  making 
this  change;  and  to  show  that  these  reports  have  been  circulated  wantonly  and  maliciously,  we  need  only  say 
tliat  in  some  iiarts  of  the  county  the  expense  had  been  reported  to  be  $15,000,  while  in  other  parts  of  the 
county  it  has  been  reported  to  be  $28,000.  Neither  of  these  amounts  are  correct.  The  fact  is,  the  entire  cost 
growing  out  of  the  change,  including  the  cost  of  the  furnaces,  the  expense  of  removing  the  old  apparatus  from 
the  court  house  and  jail,  and  in  fact  the  entire  cost  and  expense  on  account  of  the  change,  is  less  than  $4,500. 
If  the  same  result  can  Ije  obtained,  and  there  is  no  reason  why  it  cannot  be,  which  is  obtained  by  the  use  of 
this  system  in  the  Union  School  building  in  this  city,  and  in  fact  wherever  this  system  has  been  adopted,  the 
change  will  be  a  saving  in  the  county  every  year  of  from  $1,000  to  $1,500.  Nor  is  this  all;  so  far  as  the  new 
heating  apjiaratus  has  lieen  tested,  it  has  given  the  greatest  satisfaction.  The  ventilation  in  all  of  the  offices 
in  the  court  house,  as  well  as  in  the  court  room,  is  perfect. 

The  county  officers  in  the  court  house,  the  attorneys  who  are  in  attendance  at  court,  as  well  as  all  other 
persons  about  the  court  house  who  have  had  an  opportunity  to  o])serve  the  results  of  the  new  heating  sj'stem, 
speak  in  the  highest  terms  of  it. 

We  were  told  by  the  clerk  of  the  court  tliat,  during  this  changeable  weather,  with  a  very  little  care  the 
court  room  could  be  kept  at  a  temi)erature  which  did  not  vary  one  degree  in  a  whole  day.  What  is  tnie  con- 
cerning the  success  of  the  Smead  heating  apjwratus  is  true  also  of  the  Smead  dry -closet  system,  which  has  been 
placed  in  the  l)asement  of  the  court  house.  Tlie  County  Commissioners  invite  the  most  careful  examination 
into  this  system,  and  especially  request  all  those  who  may  not  be  satisfied  concerning  the  matter  to  call  and 
examine  and  learn  for  themselves. 

We  have  said  this  much  upon  tliis  subject  l)ecause  we  believe  the  taxpayers  of  this  county  have  a  right 
to  know  the  truth  concerning  this  matter. 

Mr.  Smead  :  Do  you  Avant  to  continue  the  steam-heating  subject  ar.y  longer  ? 

Dr.  :  One  more  observation.    It  strikes  me  that  the  steamfitters  are  not  in  favor  of 

much  advance  in  this  field  of  sanitary  science. 

Mr.  Smead  :  I  don't  care  whether  they  are  or  not.  I  don't  think  they  are,  as  they  are  always 
ready  to  pool  their  issues  to  beat  us,  annoy  us  by  circulating  all  sorts  of  lies,  print  columns  of 
trash  in  the  newspajjers,  and  occasionally  squander  tlieir  money  by  an  injunction  after  the  award 
of  a  contract;  but  the  courts  have  never  yet  decided  against  us,  and  I  don't  think  they  ever  will. 
I  have  no  respect  for  a  person  who  will  whine  after  being  beaten  in  a  contest  where  merit  is  the 
question.  The  next  time  you  come  in  we  will  take  up  another  subject,  one  that  has  caused  the 
plumbers  much  anguish  of  heart  and  many  tears,  and  caused  them  to  join  hands  with  the  steam- 
fitters  in  their  crusade  against  us.    I  refer  to  my  systein  of  Dn/  Closets. 

*  *  -X-  -X-  -x-  «•  »  * 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAB  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


61 


Dr.  —  :  I  am  here  early  this  evening,  Mr.  Smead,  and,  if  necessary,  am  going  to  stay 

late  ;  for  I  have  heard  a  great  deal  about  "Smead's  System  of  Dry  Closets"  during  the  past  two 
or  three  years,  and  am  anxious  to  learn  of  its  merits  and  demerits.  I  am  serious  upon  this 
subject,  for,  next  to  the  importance  of  proper  ventilation,  I  know  no  sanitary  question  of  greater 
importance,  and  especially  since  we  have  learned  so  much  about  the  danger  from  sewer  gas. 

Mr.  Smead  :  There  are  now  over  one  thousand  of  my  dry  closets  in  use.  The  first  one  ever 
built  was  erected  in  the  basement  of  what  is  known  as  the  South  Street  School  building,  Toledo, 
and  first  used  during  the  winter  of  1884  and  1885.  More  than  one  hundred  cities  sent  committees 
here  during  the  years  of  1885  and  1886.  One  committee  came  over  two  thousand  miles,  a  half- 
dozen  came  one  thousand  miles,  and  more  than  a  dozen  came  five  hundred  miles  ;  and  since  the 
date  named  (1885),  as  before  stated,  more  than  one  thousand  closets  have  been  erected. 

Dr.  :  How  did  this  happen  to  come  about  so  suddenly  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  It  didn't  come  suddenly,  so  far  as  my  wishes  were  concerned,  nor  do  I  claim  to 
be  the  father  of  the  ide(<.  The  situation  in  which  I  was  placed  made  it  impossible  to  carry  out 
the  plan  I  designed,  aiul  which  I  claimed  would  make  successful  a  theory  suggested,  but  never 
applied,  by  Mr.  Ruttan.  My  employers  had  attempted  to  follow  his  plan,  and  the  failure  was  so 
complete  and  their  disgust  so  great  that  the  subject  was  almost  a  forbidden  one  in  the  western 
ofhces.  My  associates  laughed  at  the  idea,  and  I  could  get  no  building  committee  to  let  me  try 
it,  and  there  the  matter  rested,  until  by  chance,  and  by  some  deception  on  my  part  (I  didn't  tell  a 
lie,  but  I  didn't  tell  the  "whole  truth"),  the  Toledo  Board  were  almost  forced  to  adopt  it. 
They  had  commenced  the  erection  of  a  school  building  without  knowing  they  were  beyond  the 
city  sewer  limit,  and  the  work  was  well  advanced.  This  extract  from  the  annual  report  of  the 
board  will  tell  the  story  better  than  I  can  : 

Most  of  the  school  buildings  in  our  city  are  three  stories  high,  thereljy  causing  a  great  deal  of  unnecessarj)<^ 
climbing  of  stairs.  The  board  some  time  ago  concluded  that  it  was  l^iest  hereafter  to  erect  buildings  only  two 
stories  high.  The  South  street  building  is  the  first  complete  building  of  this  kind  ordei-ed  erected.  It  is 
composed  of  eight  rooms,  four  on  each  floor.  The  basement  is  large  and  roomy.  In  connection  with  this 
building  another  important  departure  was  made.  The  board  have  long  been  of  the  opinion  that  it  is  unwise 
to  force  little  children  in  inclement  weather  to  pass  through  rain  and  cold  to  yard  water-closets,  and  were  also 
sensible  to  the  unsatisfactory  arrangements  of  water-closets  in  the  buildings.  In  this  dilemma  a  consultation 
was  invited  with  Mr.  Isaac  D.  Smead,  heating  and  ventilating  engineer.  Upon  consultation  and  examination 
of  the  plans  presented  it  was  found  that  it  would  cost  much  less  to  construct  closets  upon  this  plan  than  upon 
any  other,  and  the  work  was  ordered  done. 

At  the  time  of  the  writing  of  this  report,  and  after  the  occupancy  of  the  building,  it  is  found  that  the 
basement  is  entirely  free  from  all  malodors,  and  an  examination  of  the  closets  will  convince  anyone  that  the 
system  is  a  complete  success. 

Dr.  :  You  say  the  plan  was  suggested  by  Mr.  Ruttan  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Yes  ;  here  is  his  book  and  what  he  said  : 

If  the  City  Council  of  London,  some  hundreds  of  years  ago,  could  have  foreseen  the  lamentable  picture 
presented  in  a  late  report  by  the  Board  of  Commissioners  to  report  upon  the  sanitary  condition  of  the  city, 
appointed  in  consequence  of  the  eftiuvia  arising  from  the  filthy  condition  of  the  Thames,  I  cannot  believe 
that  it  would  ever  have  permitted  the  draining  of  water-closets  into  the  sewers.  This  great  city,  with  its 
millions  of  human  beings,  is  in  a  most  perilous  and  deplorable  condition,  and  if  its  present  system  of 
drainage  and  sewerage  be  continued,  I  cannot  imagine  in  what  way  it  can  escape  depopulation  by  pestilence. 

There  should  be  sewers,  and  there  should  be  drains,  no  doubt,  in  every  large  city,  but  only  to  carry  ofl' 
the  water,  not  the  sordes  or  the  excrementitious  matter  from  the  human  body ;  this  should  all  be  carried 
away.  This  idea  will  at  first  view  be  pronounced  a  most  herculean,  as  well  as  an  intolerably  offensive,  work. 
Not  so  ;  the  residue  of  twelve  ounces  of  excrement  will  weigh,  when  dry,  only  about  turn  ounces. 

Let  us  suppose,  then,  a  building  and  the  water-closet  to  be  so  arranged  that  all  deposits  fall  directly  at 
base  of  ventilating  stack.  Then  suppose  a  volume  of  air  flowing  closely  over  the  brick  or  earth  basin,  made 
at  the  bottom  to  receive  the  sordes,  and  up  the  shaft  at  the  rate  of  five  feet  per  second  all  the  year  round  ; 
such  will  be  the  power  of  evaporation  that  one  man  will  carry  upon  his  back  at  one  load  the  whole  of  the 
deposits  for  years.  This  surely  is  no  great  trouble  or  expense — nothing  to  be  compared  to  the  expense  which 
is  now  incurred  in  keeping  the  ordinary  cessi)Ools  and  drains  in  order.    In  order,  however,  to  make  tlii.s 


62 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


THE  DRY  CLOSET  AS  SUGGESTED  BY  HENRY  RUTTAN. 


ISAAC  1).  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


63 


residuum  more  conveniently  available  to  be  entirely  consumed  upon  tlie  premise.s  where  there  is  even  a 
very  small  patch  for  a  garden  attached,  lime,  ashes  or  plaster  of  paris  should  be  thrown  down  the  pipes  of 
the  closet,  in  the  proportion  of  about  a  gallon  per  week.  This  will  not  only  render  the  mass  hard  and  easily 
cut  up  for  removal,  but  the  ashes  and  plaster  of  paris  will  fix  and  retain  a  great  portion  of  the  ammonia,  so 
valuable  to  flowers  and,  indeed,  plants  of  any  kind. 

But  let  us  look  at  the  actual  state  of  things  as  at  present.  Every  water-closet  and  cesspool  is  drained 
into  the  sewers;  the  moutlis  of  these  sewers  are  in  general  run  down  to  the  edge  of  some  body  of  water, 
which  does  not  always  cover  the  whole  mouth,  as  it  should  do  in  order  to  exclude  the  air,  and  especially  does 
it  not  exclude  the  air  at  low  water  where  there  is  a  tide.  The  consequence  is  that  every  house  whose  drain 
is  not  in  perfect  order  becomes  a  foul-air  shaft  for  the  sewer,  and  the  heat  and  chimneys  accelerate  the  flow 
of  air  from  the  drains  upward  and  into  the  building,  and  especially  so  when  the  wind  blows  into  the  mouth 
of  the  sewer,  which  it  frequently  does.  The  inmates,  therefore,  of  these  dwellings  have  not  only  to  endure 
the  malaria  generated  within  their  own  dwellings,  but  have  also  the  advantage  of  that  of  their  neighbors. 
I  have  stood  at  the  mouths  of  many  sewers,  and  instead  of  experiencing  any  oflensive  odor  as  I  had  expected, 
I  frequently  found  a  strong  draft  into  the  sewer.  Thus,  in  these  cases,  these  sewers  carried  down  the 
insoluble  matter,  which,  in  a  sanitaiy  point  of  view,  could  do  little  harm,  while  the  noxious  gases  were  carried 
up  into  the  houses. 

These  sewers,  instead  of  thus  becoming  the  greatest  nuisances  we  have,  might,  in  addition  to  being  the 
conduits  for  the  waste  water,  be  turned  to  good  account  in  the  ventilation  of  a  whole  city.  Erect  foul-air 
shafts — say  about  four  for  every  mile — at  convenient  places  adjacent  to  the  sewers,  and  connected  with  them 
by  underground  ducts,  and  the  exhaustion  thus  brought  to  bear  upon  the  sewers,  and  the  sewers  upon  the 
drains,  would  go  far  to  improve  the  sanitary  condition  of  our  cities.  If  the  civic  authorities  would  be  at 
half  the  expense  of  the  erection  of  the  many  furnace-shafts  scattered  over  our  largest  and  most  populous 
places,  upon  condition  of  the  proprietors  allowing  a  connection  with  the  sewer  in  the  way  stated,  a  very 
cheap  and  effectual  exhaustion  miglit  be  had.  In  general,  however,  a  single  shaft  erected  at  or  near  the 
mouth  of  a  sewer  would,  if  properl}'  built,  be  found  suflicient. 

Here  is  a  cut  from  his  publicatiou  with  which  he  represented  the  method  he  recommended  (see 
cut  page  G2).  Please  notice  his  language.  He  says  "so  arranged  that  all  deposits  fall  directly  at 
the  base  of  the  stack,''''  and  the  cut  so  represents  it.  My  employers  built  several  sets  of  these  closets, 
and  so  far  as  ventilation  was  concerned  thei'e  was  no  odor  in  the  closet ;  but  Mr.  Ruttan's  statement 
that  the  deposit  would  become  dried  was  absolutely  false,  and,  as  you  see,  must  of  necessity 
have  been  so,  as  so  inurli  water  liad  to  be  evaporated  and  so  little  air  would  touch  it.  The  collection 
remained  at  the  base  of  the  stack  in  about  the  same  condition  that  it  arrived  there.  Some  fifteen 
or  twenty  were  erected.   I  built  some  myself,  and  have  since  leai-ned  that  they  were  all  abandoned. 

Dr.  :   But  the  cut  you  show  me  does  not  represent  tlie  Smead  closets  at  all. 

Mr.  Smead  :  No,  it  does  not.  I  call  your  attention  to  it  and  to  Mr.  Ruttan's  remark 
because  I  want  you  to  know  all  about  the  dry  closet  system  that  failed,  as  well  as  the  one 
that  has  succeeded. 

Dr.   :  Mr.  Ruttan,  it  seems,  called  attention  to  the  necessity  and  suggested  a  plan 

failed,  while  you  succeeded. 

Mr.  Smead  :  Yes,  far  beyond  my  expectations  as  far  as  approvement  by  the  public  is  con- 
cerned. I  always  insisted  that  if  a  long  vaidt  were  constructed  in  the  basement,  over  which 
were  placed  the  seats,  and  one  end  of  the  vault  connected  with  the  ventilating  chimney,  the 
air  passing  through  the  vault  would  dry  tlie  deposits,  provided  the  engineering  was  properly 
done.  Here  is  a  drawing  representing  my  first  experiment  in  the  South  Street  School  building. 
(See  cuts  pages  64,  65,  66,  G"/,  69  and  '70.) 

By  examination  of  the  cut  showing  the  suggestion  made  by  Ruttan  you  will  notice  tliat  all 
deposits  accumulate  at  one  point,  namely,  "at  the  base  of  stack."  He  oven  provides  a  basin  or 
cesspool,  and  I  can  assure  you  that  it  ?/v/s  a  cesspool. 

Dr.  :  With  your  plan  you  divide  the  deposits  and  so  arrange  the  vault  that  air  has 

free  access  to  all  accumulations. 

Mr.  Smead  :  Yes,  and  all  moisture  is  taken  away. 

Dr.  — ■  :  What  becomes  of  the  vegetable  and  animal  matter  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  It  remains  in  the  vault,  as  dry  and  hard  as  the  butfalo  chips  on  the  plains. 
I  have  made  other  improvements  since  the  first  ones  were  built.    I  now  construct  the  seats  and 


61 


ISAAC  D.  8MEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


SOUTH  STREET  SCHOOL  BUH^DING,  TOLEDO,  OHIO,  ERECTED  1884, 

I).  W.  GIBBS  A  CO.,  TOLEDO,  ARCHITECTS, 

For  basement  plans,  floor  plans,  seetiims  and  instructions,  see  pages  61,  63,  65,  60,  67,  68,  6'J,  70,  71  and  7'- 
(Twenty-six  school  buildings  in  Toledo  warmed  and  ventilated  by  the  Sinead  system.) 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


65 


BASEMENT  PLAN  SOUTH  STREET  SCHOOL  lJUILDING,  TOLEDO,  OHIO. 

Showing  Furnaces,  Cold- Air  Rooms,  Foul-Air  Rooms,  Smead's  System  of  Dry  Closets,  Warm-Air  Flues, 

Ventilating  and  Smoke  Flue. 

See  pages  (il  and  (>:>. 


66 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


SOUTH  STREET  SCHOOL  BUILDING,  TOLEDO,  OHIO. 


Representing,  liy  Itreaks  in  the  floors,  the  passage  of  air  under  them,  location  of  main  air  register  in  school- 
rooms and  corridors,  and  also  location  of  foul-air  exits  before  it  passes  under  floor. 


PLAN  OF  SECOND  FLOOR  SOUTH  STREET  SCHOOL  liLTILDING,  TOLEDO,  OHIO. 


68 


PEKSPECTIVE  VIEW  OF  VAULT  HEATER  IN  POSITION 

As  used  with  Smead's  Dry  Closet  and  Cremation  System. 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


75 


floor  of  iron,  and,  as  often  as  may  be  desired,  a  fire  started  at  the  end  of  tlie  vault  most  distant 
from  the  stack  soon  reduces  all  collections  to  ashes.  Here  is  a  recent  item  from  our  local  press 
that  may  interest  you  : 

AN  INTERESTING  EVENT. 

A  committee  from  Fort  Gratiot,  Michigan,  and  a  number  of  persons  from  the  city  yesterday  visited  the 
Warren  School  building  for  the  purpose  of  seeing  the  vaults  of  the  Smead  dry  closets  burned  out. 

A  reporter  of  the  Commercial,  having  heard  of  the  approaching  event,  repaired  to  the  Warren  School  at 
the  appointed  time  to  witness  the  process.  It  is  very  interesting,  both  from  a  chemical  and  sanitary 
standpoint. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  on  tlie  side  of  the  building  where  the  deposits  were  yesterday  burned 
the  closets  are  used  daily  by  some  three  hundred  and  fifty  pupils  for  ten  months  of  the  year.  Nothing  had  been 
done  with  this  excreta  for  two  years,  and  yet  not  the  slightest  odor  was  perceptible  about  the  basements, 
closets,  urinals  or  anywhere  else. 

As  may  be  readily  conceived,  an  immense  quantity  of  excreta  had  been  deposited  here  in  the  space  of 
two  years,  but  the  fact  is,  very  tittle  (at  least  of  the  offensive  portion  of  it)  remained.  The  vaulted  closet 
space,  arched  and  surrounded  with  brick  and  stone,  is  so  connected  with  the  interior  of  the  building  and  the 
large  ventilating  stack  to  the  outside  that  a  constant  strong  current  of  warm  air  is  drawn  over  and  through 
the  deposits.  The  result  is  that  the  excreta  become  thoroughly  dry  and  odorless,  only  the  skeleton  or 
solid  tissues  of  the  original  matter  remaining. 

The  excreta  remaining  is  thus  rendered  very  combustible.  A  few  minutes  after  touching  the  match  to 
the  matter  yesterday  the  whole  vaulted  chamber  was  a  mass  of  roaring,  seething  flame.  There  is  no  possibility 
of  damage  by  fire,  as  all  the  surroundings  of  seats,  floors  and  walls  are  of  iron,  brick  or  stone. 

This  process  of  burning  out  tlie  deposits  yesterday  was  subjected  to  the  closest  inspection  by  the  gentle- 
men out  of  the  city.  They  were  inclined  to  be  somewhat  critical  and  skeptical  before  they  came  to  Toledo  as 
to  the  means  of  disposing  of  the  residue,  but  in  a  few  minutes  after  the  fire  was  lighted  the  devouring  llame 
swept  along  the  passage,  fierce  heat  was  generated  from  the  dry,  combustible  matter,  and  soon  nothing  was 
left  of  the  entire  mass  except  a  few  ashes. 

How  vastly  better  it  is  to  have  these  great  masses  of  poisonous  matter  thus  evaporated  and  purified  by 
the  ocean  of  air  above  and  the  residue  consumed  by  flame  than  to  have  the  whole  pass  into  clogged  and  reek- 
ing sewers  or  left  in  privy  vaults  after  the  old  fashion,  to  create  its  unwholesome  stench,  and  be  absorbed  into 
the  earth  to  contaminate  waters  and  breed  disease  and  pestilence. 

These  closets  have  now  been  in  use  in  Toledo  four  years,  and  time  only  seems  to  demonstrate  more  fully 
the  perfection  of  the  system. 

Mr.  Smead  is  certainly  to  be  congratulated  upon  the  success  of  these  dry  closets.  He  rightly  deserves 
whatever  of  profit  and  praise  may  come  to  the  inventor  of  such  a  beneficent  plan  for  disposing  of  great 
quantities  of  unwholesome  matter. 

The  gentlemen  who  witnessed  the  burning-out  of  the  diy  closets  yesterday  expi-essed  themselves  as 
more  than  satisfied  with  the  result. 

Mr.  Smead  :  Here  is  another  cut  representing  a  late  improvement ;  in  this  one  you  will 
notice  a  brick  j^latform  extending'tbrongh  the  vault.    (See  cut  page  74.) 

Dr.  :  This  to  permit  air  to  pass  both  under  and  over  the  deposit  ? 

.  Mr.  Smead  :  Yes  ;  the  porous  brick  at  once  absorbs  all  water  as  soon  as  it  comes  to  the 
vault,  and  then  gradually  gives  it'  off  as  fast  as  the  passing  air  can  take  it  up. 

Dr.  :  Do  you  find  this  to  be  a  valuable  improvement  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Yes,  wliere  the  earth  is  damp,  as  is  sometimes  the  case. 

Dr.   :  What  is  the  size  of  the  vault  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Three  by  four  feet. 

Dr.  :  How  rapidly  does  the  air  pass  through  the  vault  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  A  little  faster  than  five  feet  per  second. 

Dr.  :  Over  216,000  cubic  feet  per  hour  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Yes,  it  will  average  more  than  that. 

Dr.   :  Does  the  current  ever  reverse  and  malodors  go  back  into  tlie  basement  or 

building '? 

Mr.  Smead  :  I  have  had  but  few  instances  of  the  kind,  and  never  a  back  current  where  the 
engineering  was  properly  done. .  Fearing  I  might  have  trouble  in  that  way,  I  devised  an  automatic 


I 


76  ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 

check-valve  at  the  end  of  the  vault  next  to  foul-air  room.    Altliough  they  only  cost  -$G  each, 
I  soon  abandoned  their  construction,  as  I  found  them  to  be  entirely  unnecessary. 
Dr.   :  The  result  would  be  serious  if  a  back-set  did  occur. 

Mr.  Smead :  Not  very  serious.  It  would  be  very  annoying,  but,  unlike  the  deadly  sewer  gas, 
there  would  be  little  or  no  danger,  as  the  signal  is  at  once  given,  its  presence  being  plainly  notice- 
able, while  the  sewer  gas  is  not  noticeable  by  its  odor,  and  is  present  in  all  buildings  where 
plumbing  is  introduced. 

Dr.   :  The  fact  that  you  have  gone  on  introducing  them  year  after  year  for  the  same 

parties,  for  instance  Toledo  Board  of  Education,  is  pretty  good  evidence  that  they  are  all  right, 
and  especially  as  they  are  being  substituted  for  water-closets  and  outside  vaults. 

Mr.  Smead  :  Here  is  an  extract  from  a  circular  written  by  Mr.  Otis  Jones,  of  Chicago,  upon 
the  subject,  that  I  have  always  thought  to  be  a  very  clear  statement  of  the  closet  question.  I 
hope  you  M'ill  have  time  to  read  it. 

The  dry-closet  system,  as  patented  by  Isaac  D.  Smead,  will  convince  the  most  skeptical  of  its  superiority 
over  any  other  system  in  use.  Two  otliers  are  practiced.  The  first  and  most  common  is  the  old  vault 
plan,  in  which  the  vault  is  used  until  it  is  filled,  wlien  either  the  building  is  placed  on  a  new  vault  and  a 
little  earth  thrown  over  the  old  one^  or,  during  the  night,  as  secretly  as  possible,  the  contents  of  tlie  vault 
is  removed  by  night-soil  scavengers,  taken  to  the  limits  of  the  city,  where  a  pit  is  dug,  the  excreta  dumped 
in  and  a  few  feet  of  earth  or  sand  covered  over.  There  it  lies  for  years,  a  festering  mass  of  corruption, 
a  veritable  plague-spot  upon  the  face  of  the  earth.  In  the  course  of  time  (how  near  eternity  the  "time" 
may  approach  no  one  can  tell),  these  disease-breeding  particles  will  be  absorbed  and  changed  by  the  sur- 
rounding earth ;  but  this  is  mainly  through  the  action  of  the  atmosphere  and  sunlight — the  more  deeply  it  is 
covered  the  slower  the  action,  and  the  longer  the  danger  continues.  However  horrible  the  odors  may  be, 
they  are  not  in  themselves  poisons,  but  arc  notices  to  man,  spoken  in  Nature's  loudest  voice,  that  the  penalty 
for  taking  the  poisons  from  whence  the  odors  come  into  man's  system  is  death. 

The  second  plan  is  the  water-closet  system  as  used  in  naost  large  cities.  It  consists  in  washing  all  the 
excreta  in  pipes,  provided  for  the  purpose,  from  the  houses  of  the  city  into  running  streams,  or  large  bodies  of 
water  where  "  in  course  of  time"  it  becomes  so  dissipated  by  the  action  of  the  water  and  atmosphere  as  to 
cease  to  be  injurious.  There  are  two  very  great  dangers  that  we  encounter  from  the  use  of  this  system. 
Sewer  gas  is  a  terrible  enemy  to  life,  and  it  requires  the  work  of  the  most  skillful  sanitary  engineers  to  merely 
keep  it  at  bay,  as  it  is  ever  waiting  for  its  opportunity,  through  careless  workmen  or  imperfect  material,  to 
make  its  silent  and  persistent  attack.  The  other  danger  is  in  the  contamination  of  drinking  water.  Tlie 
people  of  Chicago,  or  any  other  large  city,  need  not  be  reminded  how  often  there  are  epidemics  of  "  bowel 
complaints."  It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  "  winter  cholera  "  and  other  similar  epidemics  have  been  caused 
entirely  bj^  sewage  contamination  in  the  drinking  water.  The  recent  terrilile  tyijlioid  fever  scourge  at  Plj'- 
mouth.  Pa.,  was  at  first  a  very  mysterious  disease,  but  the  mystery  disappeared  when  the  drinking  water  was 
analyzed.  It  was  taken  from  a  small  river,  near  the  margin  of  which,  some  miles  above,  several  privy  vaults 
of  a  small  town  had  stood  for  years.  The  filth  so  completely  saturated  the  ground  that  it  finally  reached 
the  river,  thereby  contaminating  the  water,  causing  great  suffering  to  ever  one  thousand  people  and  death  to 
more  than  a  Jiundred  and  fifty,  as  estimated  by  Dr.  Higgins,  of  Wilkesbarre.  He  detected  the  typhoid  germ  in 
the  water,  athough  it  was  apparently  pure.  There  is  a  modification  of  the  water-closet  system  which  many 
scientific  men,  notably,  George  E.  Waring,  Jr.,  consider  much  better  than  the  usual  one  we  have  named.  This 
consists  in  having  two  sets  of  sewage  pijDes ;  one  for  rain-water  for  roofs  and  streets,  the  other  for  the  waste 
from  water-closets,  sinks,  etc.  The  first  named  goes  into  the  river  or  lake,  as  in  the  former  case,  while  the 
other  is  forced,  by  means  of  pumj^ing  machinery,  some  miles  from  the  city  and  thrown  upon  the  surface  of  a 
large  tract  of  ground  provided  for  the  purpose,  in  some  cases  requiring  thousands  of  acres  for  a  single  citj'. 
There  it  is  left  for  the  atmosphere  to  evaporate  its  moisture,  when  it  becomes  inoffensive  and  innocuous. 

Now  let  it  be  noticed  that  in  each  case  there  is  danger  until  the  excreta  has  been  acted  upon  by  the 
atmosphere  and  the  sunlight ;  and  when  that  exposure  has  been  free  and  ample,  giving  every  opportunity  for 
evaporation,  all  danger  has  passed  from  it  and  it  is  ready  to  be  mingled  Avith  "  mother  earth."  Mr.  Duclaux 
claims  to  have  recently  proven,  by  experiments  with  fluids  containing  known  percentages  of  germs,  that 
sunlight  possesses  a  uncrobocide  p)Ower  fifty  times  more  energetic  than  heat.  The  following,  taken  from  the  Sanitary 
News  of  May  n,  18S5,  is  only  one  of  thousands  of  similar  cases  throughout  the  United  States: 

Tlie  authorities  of  a  county  jail  in  Wisconsin  are  considerably  perplexed  by  a  problem  of  drainage  for 
their  institution.  The  building  is  located  on  low  ground,  and  within  a  few  hundred  feet  is  a  so-called  river, 
which  is  really  nothing  but  a  lialf-stagnant  pond.  For  ten  years  the  drainage  of  the  institution  lias  been 
directed  towards  this  "  river,"  througli  an  open  ditch,  without  reaching  it.  Tlie  result  is  that  the  ditch  is  full 
and  its  contents  are  spreading  out  over  the  lowdying  ground.    The  waste  is  backing  up  under  the  building 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO.  77 

itself,  and  the  pri.soners,  of  whom  there  are  never  less  than  forty,  are  sufierinn;  (rreatly  with  sickness.  The 
county  commissioners  want  somebody  to  tell  them  what  to  do — and,  of  course,  without  cost  to  the  county. 

Since  such  epidemics  are  avoidable  by  avoiding  the  conditions  which  cause  them,  it  becomes  an  imjicra- 
tive  necessity  to  make  the  conditions  as  harmless  as  possible. 

The  old  systems  confined  and  covered  all  human  excreta  with  <j;roatost  care.  The  Smcad  dry-closet 
system  follows  an  entirely  different  course.  Each  inmate  of  a  Iniilding  requires  many  tliousands  of  cubic  feet 
of  fresh  air  per  day  to  give  him  life  and  health,  and  in  buildings  provided  with  our  ventilating  and  warming 
a|)paratus  that  quantity  is  abundantly  largo  to  absorb  far  more  moisture  each  day  than  would  be  necessary  for 
each  individual.  Bj'  its  use  there  is  absolutely  no  cliance  for  the  excrement  to  cause  disease  of  any  kind  ■ 
that  the  necessary  apparatus,  being  as  simple  as  the  walls,  floors,  partitions  and  doors  of  the  liuilding,  will  be 
as  permanent  as  the  building  itself;  that  there  will  consequently  be  no  expense  for  lejiairs  while  the  building 
stands;  that  when  a  building  is  erected  the  added  expense  is  very  small;  that  by  its  use  yon  have  no  fiozen 
water  pipes  preventing  the  use  of  closets ;  no  unsightly,  ill-smelling  privies;  no  waste  )iii)os  brcafhing  forth 
diphtheria,  scarlet  fever,  typhoid,  death. 

Mr.  Smead  :  Here  is  a  letter  and  some  enclosures  I  liave  just  received  from  mj'  partner  in 
Toronto  : 

My  Deak  Mr.  Smead  :  "What  helped  us  to  get  the  Montreal  Asylum  contract  was  this  :  A  neighbor  to 
the  Asylum  brought  suit  for  an  injunction  to  compel  removal  of  Asylum  on  the  ground  of  its  being  a  nuisance, 
especially  on  account  of  contaminating  waters  of  the  St.  Lawrence  by  the  sewerage.  The  trustees  cut  the  ground 
from  under  his  complaint  by  adopting  the  Smead  system,  and  I  was  up  to  Montreal  this  week  to  explain  the 
system  to  the  court.  One  of  our  books  went  in  as  evidence.  Mr.  Iladford  is  Sanitary  Inspector  of  Montreal, 
and  I  think  you  will  be  interested  in  his  explanation  of  "  no  danger  from  microbes." 

Yours  truly, 

(Signed)         John  W.  Dowd. 

Sanitary  Inspector  Radford  testified  to  the  efficacy  of  the  Smead  system  of  desiccating  the  excreta.  He 
had  seen  it  in  Toronto,  and  on  his  recommendation  it  had  been  adojited  here.  With  this  system  there  was 
no  danger  of  contaminating  the  water  supply.  The  Smead  system  of  desiccation  rendered  the  excreta  hard 
and  dry,  and  rendered  the  germs  or  microbes  it  contained  harndess.  If  the  excreta  were  reduced  to  powder 
and  a  current  of  air  passing  over  it,  the  microbes  might  be  carried  up  the  ventilating  shaft,  l)ut  he  did  not 
believe  the  excreta  was  ever  turned  to  powder.  He  believed  the  skin  wiiich  formed  over  the  excreta  pre- 
vented the  escape  of  germs.  This  skin  could  only  be  formed  by  a  current  of  wind  passing  over  it.  He  did 
not  think  there  was  any  great  danger  from  the  water  in  which  the  clothes  of  a  typhoid  fever  patient  liad  been 
washed  being  drained  into  the  St.  Lawrence.  The  medical  world  was  al)Out  united  in  the  belief  that  typhoid 
is  not  infectious. 

Th\  Duquet  and  Mr.  Dutour  were  examined  to  show  that  no  damage  resulti'd  from  the  erection  of  tlie 
hospital,  and  the  case  was  then  adjourned  until  today. 

Mr.  J.  W.  Dowd,  of  Smead,  Dowd  &  Co.,  Toronto,  manufacturers  of  tlie  process  for  heating,  venti- 
lating and  disinfecting  buildings,  which  is  being  adopted  by  the  Insaiie  Hospital  authorities,  explained 
the  nature  of  the  system,  holding  that  by  its  use  the  excrements  were  thoroughly  dried  up,  become  quite 
inoffensive,  and  could  afterwards  be  burned.  The  system  had  been  five  years  in  use,  and  bad  everywhere 
given  entire  satisfaction. 

Mr.  Smead  :  I  liavc  hundreds  of  letters  from  all  over  the  United  States,  and  hundreds  of 
printed  pages  of  various  reports  made  from  time  to  time  concerning  our  work  ;  too  many  for  you 
to  read,  even  if  you  care  to  do  so.  The  system  is  a  success.  Tliere  are,  as  I  liave  before  stated, 
over  one  thousand  in  use,  and  the  only  people  disappointed  are  tiiose  interested  in  water-closet 
fixtures  and  some  wlio  always  said  it  would  not  work. 

Dr.  :  Didn't  some  of  the  sanitary  journals  attack  the  system  a  year  or  so  ago? 

Mr.  Smead  :  No,  not  as  their  own  matter;  they  f)nly  printetl  some  communications  written 
by  the  class  I  refer  to.  The  Detroit  JJoard  of  Education,  after  a  very  thorougli  investigation,  had 
adopted  my  system  of  warming  and  ventilation  for  five  school  buildings,  and  to  "sto|)  dat  foolisli- 
ness"  parties  interested  in  heating  apjjaratus  and  plumbers'  supplies  commenced  an  attack  upon  us 
through  the  local  press,  and  some  of  the  most  outrageous  lies  were  printed  that  it  has  ever  been  my 
fortune  to  read,  or  misfortune  (as  I  then  supposed),  to  contradict.  Tlie  Board  appointed  a  com- 
mittee of  doctors  to  aid  them  in  another  investigation,  and  we  have  since  tlien  furnished  a])jiaratus 
for  every  school  building  either  built  or  repaired  in  Detroit,  including  the  new  Medical  College, 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


MORTIMER  SMITH  &  RONS,  AECHITECTS,  DETROIT.  MICH. 

Fourteen  school  buildings  in  Detroit  warmed  and  ventilated  by  the  Sniead  system. 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


79 


and  tlie  advertisement  we  received,  instead  of  being  a  misfortune,  turned  out  to  be  of  great  benefit 
to  us.  You  must  remember,  doctor,  that  in  all  large  cities  there  are,  and  always  will  be,  hardware 
dealers  selling  steamfitters'  and  plumbers'  supplies  (most  of  the  latter  now  put  up  a  sign  "sanitary 
plumbing" — -it  is  fashionable).  These  have  always  been  opposed  to  our  securing  contracts  where 
they  pay  taxes.  I  say  pay  taxes  because  nine-tenths  of  our  work  is  on  public  buildings  paid  for  by 
taxpayers.    Haven't  we  talked  enough  on  the  question  of  dry  closets  ? 

Dr.   :  About  enough  to  convince  me  that  they  are  better  than  water-closets  ;  there  are 

some  points  upon  which  I  desire  further  information. 

Mr.  Sraead  :  Without  further  talk  now  on  the  subject,  I  would  suggest  that  we  go  to  one  of 
our  public  school  buildings  and  examine  it  in  detail.  I  will  select  the  last  one  erected,  as  it  con- 
tains all  our  latest  improvements.  This  is  fair,  as  your  verdict  is  to  be  upon  our  present  methods, 
not  on  something  done  some  time  in  the  past. 

Dr.   :  Is  the  building  you  select  one  in  which  your  methods  have  been  introduced  upon 

plans  that  in  every  way  meet  your  approval  V 

Mr.  Smead  :  Yes,  and  I  want  you  to  find  all  the  fault  with  the  work  that  you  can. 

Dr.  :  Can  I  take  with  me  apparatus  to  test  the  quality  of  the  air,  uniformity  of  tem- 
perature, etc.? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Certainly,  and  I  further  agree  to  publish  and  circulate  whatever  your  report 
may  be. 

Dr.  :   You  seem  to  have  implicit  confidence  in  the  result,  and  I  give  you  notice  now 

that  the  examination  will  be  thorough. 

Mr.  Smead  ;  A  year  ago  I  was  requested  to  "  read  a  i»aper  "  at  a  convention  of  doctors.  Here 
is  what  I  said  ;  the  statements  I  made  then  I  still  adhere  to  : 

-  If  all  or  oiie-lialf  the  questions  that  an  engineer  lias  to  dei-ide  in  i)reiiarin.i;-  i)laiis  fm-a  building  wore 
thoroughly  understood,  the  critieisnis  would  he  nun-h  less  severe.  It  is  reas(.)iuil)le  tu  expect  su1)stantiaily 
as  follows : 

1.  That  the  apparatus  1ic  reasonable  in  its  cost. 

2.  That  it  will  consume  the  kind  of  fuel  (•heai)est  in  the  district  in  which  it  is  to  l  )e  used. 

3.  That  the  api)aratus  be  easily  managed. 

4.  That  it  shall  be  so  constructed  and  so  located  in  the  l)uilding  that  im  heat  generated  ]>y  the  fuel 
consumed  is  l(jst. 

5.  That  with  a  reasonable  amount  of  carelessness  and  neglect  the  ap]>aiutns  shall  be  dnralile. 

6.  Easily  repaired  if  broken. 

7.  Almost  automatic  in  its  oi>erati(jn. 

8.  Absolutely  free  from  danger,  either  l.)y  fire  or  by  explosion. 

9.  That  it  shall  take  the  air  from  that  portion  of  space  occupi(,M.l  l)y  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  and  send 
it  into  the  building  uninjured  by  over-heating. 

10.  The  liuilding  sliould  l)e  so  arranged  that,  at  the  will  of  the  teacher  (if  a  school  liuilding),  air  at  any 
temj)erature  desired  can  be  secured  with  little  effort. 

11.  So  arranged  as  to  avoid  local  or  unpleasant  currents  of  air. 

12.  So  arranged  that  the  temperature  will  be  uniform. 

13.  So  arranged  that  the  floor  will  be  warmed  and  an  unequal  temperature  between  head  and  feet  avoided. 
Now,  the.se  are  a  "  baker's  dozen  "  of  specifications,  and  I  Ix-lieve  that  no  reasonable  jierson  will  ask  for 

many  more.  There  are  in  this  city  over  twenty  school  buildings  in  which  nearly  all  these  si)etuficati<jns  are 
filled  to  the  letter,  and  some  buildings  wherein  all  are  to  be  found.    And  as  I  have  said  to  your  chairman,  I 


State  Board  of  Education. 

Otsego,  Mich.,  February  8,  18S9. 

Isaac  D.  Smead  &  Co.,  Toledo,  Ohio : 

Gernlcmen,— Being  a  practical  builder  and  a  school  man,  I  have  been  much  interested  in  making  a  thor- 
ough examination  of  your  heating,  ventilating  and  dry  closet  system,  and  it  gives  me  pleasure  to  bear  testimony 
to  its  excellency.  The  heating  apparatus  or  furnace  is  simple  in  construction,  easily  adjusted,  and  warms  a 
building  quickly  and  well.  The  ventilation  is  a  success  in  every  respect,  and  the  dry  closet  is  the  only  system 
that  I  have  examined  in  any  school  building  which  is  without  objections.  The  whole  arrangement  is  perfect, 
and  I  recommend  the  entire  system,  as  furnished  by  your  firm,  to  builders  of  school-houses,  churches,  halls 
and  city  blocks.  Very  truly  yours,  J.  M.  Ballou,  I'res'l  Slate  Board  of  Education. 


80 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


was  not  going  to  theorize,  or  try  to  impose  upon  you  a  scientific  essay.  I  could  not  do  so  if  I  woiild,  and 
woald  not  if  I  could ;  l>ut  rather  call  your  attention  to  the  practical  side  of  the  question.  I  will  ask  you  to 
%  come,  afier  adjournment,  to  one  of  the  l>uildings  referred  to  and  see  for  yourselves  whether  the  stateuients  are 
true  or  not.  If  in  your  oinnion  they  are  not,  I  hope  you  will  not  hesitate  to  say  so.  If  they  are  true,  will 
you  not  lend  me  your  assistance  in  suppressing  the  fiends  who  declare  that  "  no  one  has  yet  solved  the 
problem?"  And  while  we  are  about  that  business,  let  us  also  include  those  who  always  write  and  advise, 
but  never  do  anything  else. 

If  you  accept  my  invitation  I  will  take  you  to  a  school  building  cared  for  by  a  woman  janitor,  and 
show  you  schoolrooms  in  which  the  air  is  changed  every  nine  minutes,  and  where  the  teacher  can  secure  air 
through  the  i-egister  at  any  temperature  between  January  and  August;  where  the  floors  are  warmed,  as  all  air 
exhausted  from  the  rooms  passes  under  tliem  on  its  way  to  the  ventilating  stacks,  via  the  dry  closet  vaults  in 
the  basement.  To  describe  these  vaults,  I  will  simply  use  the  language  of  Hon.  .1.  J.  Clark,  president  of  the 
Canton,  Ohio,  Board  of  Education,  who  came  here  to  examine  them,  and  who,  in  his  report,  says : 

The  members  of  the  conunittee  confess  that  these  res^dts  created  in  their  minds  a  deep  and  profound 
sensation.  Here  was  a  system  of  closets  sufficient  in  cajiacity  to  accomodate  six  hundred  pupils,  in  constant 
use  four  months,  at  an  original  cost  of  not  to  exceed  $150,  in  perfect  condition,  with  no  noisome  odors,  no 
unsightliness,  no  pipes,  no  water-works,  no  plumbers'  appliances,  no  sewerage  system,  no  loathsome  and 
disease-creating  cessitools,  no  stifling  disinfectants,  nothing  but  a  free  and  unobstructed  circulation  of  God's 
atmosphere,  which  had  already  performed  the  double  and  important  functions  of  heating  and  ventilating 
Ihe  rooms  in  which  five  hundred  children  had  been  engaged  in  their  school  work. 

Now,  if  Mr.  Clark  has  told  the  truth,  and  if  others  who  have  written  upon  the  same  system  ami  in  the 
same  manner  have  told  the  truth,  why  need  the  theorist  and  professional  writer  whine  and  sigh  for  some- 
thing "better?" 

Dr.  :  Did  you  have  some  trouble  at  Cleveland  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Yes,  with  the  newspapers.  Here  is  an  interview  published  recently  that  will 
tell  the  whole  story  ;  jilease  read  it : 

"  What  is  the  matter  with  the  Smead  system  in  the  Cleveland  School  building?  "  asked  a  U^acZe  reporter 
of  Hon.  Isaac  D.  Smead,  whom  he  found  in  his  new  office  building  on  Huron  street. 
"  Nothing  now." 

"  What  has  been  the  trouble  there?" 

"  There  has  l)een  no  trouble  with  the  '  Smead '  system  of  heating,  but  in  one  building  there  was  a  serious 
defect  in  the  application  of  my  system  of  dry  closets.  I  suppose  you  h^me  been  reading  the  Cleveland  Leader" 
replied  Mr.  Smead,  with  a  smile. 

"  Yes,  and  the  Blade  would  like  to  know  the  facts  in  the  matter." 

"Then  I  will  have  to  tell  them,  for  you  cannot  get  them  from  the  Leader,  if  I  can  judge  by  what  they 
have  printed." 

"  Have  you  done  much  work  in  Cleveland  ?" 

"Yes,  both  for  the  Board  of  Education  and  in  other  public  buildings.  Briefly,  the  facts  are  these: 
Several  years  ago  the  Cleveland  Board  of  Education  wasted  a  very  large  sum  of  money  in  heating  ajjparatus, 
having  a  large  number  of  fine  buildings. 

"One  morning,  two  years  ago  last  summer,  three  gentlemen  came  into  iny  office  and  were  introduced  as 
a  committee  from  the  Cleveland  Board  to  investigate  my  apparatus  for  school  buildings.  After  examining 
into  the  matter  with  what  seemed  to  l)e  more  than  ordinary  care,  they  contracted  with  me  to  furnish  appa- 
ratus for  the  Eagle  Street  School  building,  and  returned  home  on  the  afternoon  train. 

"  The  apparatus  was  used  during  the  winter  of  1886-87.  During  the  spring  of  1887,  while  in  Washington 
City,  my  attention  was  called  to  an  attack  upon  me  and  my  apparatus  published  in  the  Cleveland  Leader.  I 
went  down  to  the  newspaper  offices,  and  by  examination  of  the  Cleveland  papers  learned  for  the  first  time 
that  at  a  meeting  of  the  Cleveland  Board  of  Education  the  Building  Committee  had  been  instructed  to  intro- 
duce the  '  Smead  system '  into  all  of  the  new  buildings,  some  five  or  si-^i;  in  number.  Our  contract  amounted 
to  some  $2.5,000. 

"  I  was  fairly  entitled  to  the  contract,  because  of  the  successful  and  satisfactory  operation  of  my  apparatus 
in  the  Eagle  street  building,  and  also  in  the  West  Cleveland  School  building.  Of  course  I  was  pleased  at  the 
action  of  the  board  ;  but  I  was  also  being  injured  by  the  Leader  articles." 

"  AVhat  did  you  do  ?" 

"  I  finished  my  business  in  Washington,  came  home  and  asked  the  T^eader  to  send  a  reporter  to  inter- 
view all  the  teachers  in  the  Eagle  street  building  (nine  in  number).  This  it  did,  and  also  interviewed  the 
members  of  the  West  Cleveland  board,  and  Mr.  Teachout,  chairman  of  the  Building  Committee  of  Hiram 
College,  who  resides  in  Cleveland.  I  have  since  published  the  interviews  among  mj'  testimonials.  Every 
statement  made  was  contrary  to  those  which  the  Leadn-  has  been  publishing.  T]iey  prhded  ilie  interviews 
and  charged  me  50  cenlH  for  every  line  printed." 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


81 


"Did  you  pay  the  bill?" 

"Of  course  I  did.    A  man  is  very  foolish  to  quarrel  with  an  editor  if  it  can  be  prevented.    The  advan- 
tage is  all  on  the  editor's  side ;  and  the  poor  contractor  is  the  legitimate  prey  of  the  newspaper  man." 
"  How  do  you  know  ?  " 

"  Twenty  years  of  experience  teaches  a  fellow  some  things  he  don't  soon  forget." 

"As  a  newspaper  man  I  cannot  agree  with  you  ;  but  what  aljout  the  recent  trouble?" 

"  Just  this  :  the  work  done  in  1 S87  was  entirely  satisfactory  to  everyone  except  disappointed  competitors 
and  their  friends;  and  the  board  again  contracted  with  me  to  furnish  apparatus  for  two  more  buildings. 
One  of  these  —  the  High  School  building  —  was  erected  a  good  many  years  ago.  It  contained  a  steam-heating 
apparatus  and  four  large  ventilating  stacks.  In  these  stacks  there  were  steam  coils  and  pipes  designed  to 
keep  the  stacks  hot  and  make  them  '  draw,'  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  stacks  were  twenly-one  feet 
loiver  than^  the  highest  portion  of  the  roof.  Although  we  were  assured  that  '  there  had  never  been  any 
down-drafts,'  we  hesitated  about  connecting  the  closets  with  them  ;  but  my  superintendent  finally  did  so, 
although  against  the  protest  of  my  engineer. 

"The  system  operated  successfully  until  some  three  weeks  ago,  at  which  time  there  was  a  severe  wind- 
storm in  Cleveland,  and  the  wind  struck  the  roof  in  such  a  manner  as  to  glance  otf  and  go  down  the  ventilat- 
ing fine.    The  result  was  just  what  my  engineer  had  anticipated. 

"The  superintendent  of  buildings  wrote  me;  I  went  over  and  saw  the  building  for  the  first  time.  It  was 
plain  to  me  that  the  error  was  ours,  and  .could  be  corrected  by  an  extension  of  the  flues  to  the  proper  height. 
This  I  did  by  an  addition  of  23  feet  to  each  chimney,  and  now  the  harder  the  wind  blows  the  better  the 
draft,  and  the  meter  records  an  exhaust  of  723,000  cubic  feet  per  hour  from  the  building. 

"  The  members  of  the  committee  were  so  well  satisfied  that  they  at  once  recommended  that  the  other  two 
stacks  (with  which  we  had  nothing  to  do)  be  extended  to  the  same  point  at  which  I  stopped  mine.  It  has 
also  developed  that  the  position  taken  by  Prof.  Campbell,  principal  of  the  school,  is  correct,  namely,  that 
until  now  the  building  has  never  been  ventilated  at  all;  and  he  strongly  urged  the  extension  of  the  other 
two  flues. 

"  With  ^\4ater-closets  the  poisonous  sewer  gas  escapes  constantly  to  a  greater  or  less  degree,  and,  although 
very  poisonous,  has  but  little  odor ;  while  with  my  system  there  can  be  no  sewer  gas,  and  if  anything  is 
wrong  the  odor  gives  the  signal  at  once." 

"You  spoke  of  being  in  Washington;  are  you  doing  work  there?" 

"  Yes,  between  January  1,  1883,  and  January  1,  1888,  I  introduced  my  apparatus  into  twenty-four  school 
buildings  there,  and  am  now  executing  contracts  there  on  nine  more  school  buildings  for  the  district 
commissioners." 

"How  do  you,  a  republican,  hold  on  under  a  democratic  administration  ?" 

"Politics  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  engineering  department,  so  far  as  I  have  ever  observed,  under 
any  administration." 

"  Who  will  be  the  next  president?  " 

"  Harrison,  I  hope.    But  what  has  that  to  do  with  troubles  in  the  Cleveland  school  buildings?" 
"  Is  the  Cleveland  board  democratic  or  republican  ?  " 

"I  never  heard  a  member  of  the  board  mention  politics;  but  I  understand  the  democrats  have  the 
majority." 

"  Has  that  anything  to  do  with  the  Leader  articles?  " 

"I  don't  know.    I  notice  that  they  abuse  the  board'for  about  everything  it  does." 
"  What  are  you  going  to  do  about  it?" 

"Nothing.  I  do  not  have  to  pay  50  cents  per  line  now,  and  I  hope  the  articles  will  do  me  as  uuich  good 
as  did  those  of  the  Detroit  News  last  winter.  Since  the  attack  of  the  News  commenced  I  have  had  all  the 
contracts  awarded  there — eleven  large  buildings." 

"  Do  you  often  have  trouble  with  your  work  ?  " 

"  I  do  the  most  work  in  my  line  of  any  man  in  America.  I  never  have  trouble  with  cither  my  customers 
or  my  apparatus,  except  occasionally  because  of  mechanical  errors,  as  my  workmen  are  not  all  perfect.  But 
I  always  have  trouble  with  my  competitors,  and  in  large  cities  it  is  worse  than  anywhere  else.  The  worst 
fight  I  ever  had  was  the  one  at  Columbus.  There  the  Pittsburgh,  CHeveland  and  Columbus  steam-heating  men 
combined  against  me,  and  we  got  into  the  courts.  The  other  side  had  the  costs  to  pay,  and  the  Columbus 
board  has  introduced  my  apparatus  into  seven  buildings,  in  addition  to  the  four  I  had  when  the  fight 
commenced." 

-X-  %  -x-  -X-  -X-  -x- 

Mr.  Smead  :  Well,  doctor,  here  we  are  again.  You  liave  been  interviewing  me  for  the  past 
ten  days;  I  now  want  to  ask  you  a  few  (juestions.  Did  you  examine  the  Segur  Avenue  Scliool 
building,  and  did  the  janitor  know  very  much  about  the  merits  or  demerits  of  the  macliinery 
under  charge  ? 


83 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


Dr.  —  :  Seemingly  very  little. 

Mr.  Smead  :  Do  you  suppose  the  teachers  appreciate  the  comfort  and  healthfulness  of  the 
rooms  they  occupy? 

Dr.  :  I  have  found  a  number  who  do. 

Mr.  Smead  :  I  am  glad  of  it,  they  are  generally  very  hard  to  please  ;  I  gave  up  trying  it 
long  ago. 

Dr.  :   Who  do  you  try  to  please  when  you  put  up  a  heating  and  ventilating  apparatus? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Only  the  purchaser  and  myself.    Myself  first. 

Dr.   :  Is  most  of  the  work  you  do  done  in  public  buildings  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Yes;  our  a]>paratus  is  suitable  for  scliools,  cliurclies,  opera  houses,  court  houses 
and  residences,  although  for  the  last  ten  years  I  have  done  but  little  with  the  latter. 

Dr.  :   What  was  the  amount  of  your  sales  the  first  year  after  estaljlishment  of  business 

in  Toledo  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Twenty-two  thousand  dollars  the  first  year;  over  1500,000  the  seventh. 

Dr.  :  By  your  card  I  see  that  you  have  other  offices  besides  at  Toledo. 

Mr.  Smead  :  Yes,  at  Elmira,  N.  Y.,  at  Philadelphia,  at  Kansas  City,  at  Boston,  at  Cincinnati, 
at  Washington  and  at  Toronto,  Canada.  The  gentlemen  associated  with  me  in  tliese  offices  were 
former  employes  in  tliis  office.  They  are  skilled  engineers,  honest  and  faithful  men,  men  whom 
their  customers  have  learned  to  respect  and  honor  ;  and  it  gives  me  more  pleasure  tlian  I  can  find 
words  to  express  to  know  that,  although  to  a  degree  I  Avas  instrumental  in  their  early  start  in 
business,  the  confidence  I  have  reposed  in  them  has  in  no  instance  been  betrayed.  The  skill  they 
possess  is  not  excelled  by  any  now  remaining  here.  Tiiey  have  had  a  "  hard  row  to  hoe  "  ;  hot-air 
furnace  men,  steanifitters  and  ])lumbers  opposed  them  at  first,  and  the  pirates  of  late  steal  and  copy 
all  they  can.  Architects,  or  some  at  least,  anxious  to  have  it  understood  that  no  plan  is  right 
except  their  own,  or  fearing  some  credit  ma^^  fall  to  some  one  besides  tliemselves,  or  with  some 
experiment  to  try,  oppose  them  ;  but  the  gentlemen  labored  on  in  spite  of  all  obstacles,  until 
there  are  now  scattered  all  over  their  territory  monuments  in  the  form  of  breathing  buildings  — 
monuments  to  their  industry  and  skill  that  will  last  many  years  after  those  who  would  now  steal 
from  them  all  that  is  not  covered  with  patents  (and  they  often  infringe  on  those)  have  long 
been  forgotten. 

Dr.  :  Don't  you  have  j»atents  to  i)rotect  your  invention  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Yes,  but  no  inventor  gets  full  protection  from  the  thief.  Here  is  an  extract 
from  a  brief  recently  submitted  in  one  of  my  cases  by  my  attorneys  (Dodge  &  Son,  Washington, 
D.  C).  They  seem  to  know  something  about  the  troubles  of  a  manufacturer  who  tries  to  make 
impi  ovements. 

Between  the  ingenuity  of  tlie  pirates,  aided  by  the  present  strict  construction  of  the  courts,  on  the  one 
hand,  and  the  dictation  of  claims  by  examiners  on  the  other  hand,  the  inventor  of  today  finds  it  next  to 
impossible  to  secure  by  a  patent  that  protection  of  his  invention  wliich  the  law  was  designed  to  afford  him. 
This  being  so,  the  office  sliould  not'i^lace  unnecessary  obstacles  in  the  pathway  of  a  class  of  men  who,  as  Com- 
missioner Fisher,  in  liis  report  to  Congress,  says,  "have  done  more  for  the  glory  and  prosperity  of  the  United  States 
than  any  otliers,  and  who  have  never  been  favored  cliildrcn." 

The  action  in  this  case  was  well  described  by  Commissioner  Fisher  as  tlie  "  unfriendly  liand  of  adverse 
criticism,"  and  which,  as  lie  states,  "if  it  had  been  applied  to  most  or  all  of  our  great  inventions  wlien  first 
presented  to  the  office  or  tlie  public,  would  liave  strangled  them  at  birth." 

Tlie  spirit  which  should  actuate  the  office  in  all  its  Ijranclies  was  lieautifully  expressed  by  Commis- 
sioner Holt,  in  the  case  of  D.  D.  Badger,  rejected  on  a  technical  objection,  wherein  he  said : 

"If,  however,  tlie  stringent  construction  now  favored  in  certain  quarters  be  adopted  in  practice,  it  is  to 
be  feared  tliat  many  inventors  who  have  been  summoned  tc  this  office  by  the  constitution  would  find  its 
doors  shut  in  their  faces. 

"  It  is  due  to  tlie  dignity  of  the  subject  and  to  the  generous  spirit  of  tlie  constitution  that  the  patent 
laws  should  be  liberally  construed,  having  ever  in  view  the  great  end  they  were  designed  to  subserve.  They 
were  enacted  for  the  government  of  an  office  whose  range  of  action  is  altogether  above  the  barren  field  of  mere 
technicalities.  That  oflicc,  in  my  judgment,  would  be  forgetful  of  its  mission  and  disloyal  to  one  of  the  highest 
interests  of  humanity  were  it  to  permit  itself  to  be  entangled  in  a  mesh  of  mere  words  or  palsied  by  doubts 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


88 


born  of  intricate  metaphysical  disquisitions.  Il  lias  to  do  with  the  substance  of  things,  and  to  deal  witli  the  earnest, 
ingenious,  practical  intellect  of  the  age,  and  it  shoidd  deal  with  it  frankly,  not  perplexing  and  discouraging  inventors  by 
subtle  distinctions,  but  kindly  taking  them  by  the  hand  as  benefactors  of  their  race,  and  strewing,  if  possible,  their  path- 
way with  sunshine  and  with  flowers." 

Mr.  Sraead  :  There  is  a  great  deal  said  about  tlie  health  of  our  school  children,  l^el'ore 
entering  upon  a  discussion  of  the  inspection  requested  at  my  last  interview,  it  may  be  well  to 
bring  out  a  few  points  in  regard  to  school  life.  Do  you  think  that  the  health  standard  of  school 
children  is  improving? 

Dr  :  That  question  can  scarcely  be  answered  in  a  few  words  ;  but  I  thiidi  that,  taking 

all  things  into  consideration,  the  physical  standard  of  school  children  is  being  lowered.* 

Mr.  Smead  :  To  what  do  you  attribute  this  degeneration  '? 

Dr.  :  There  are  many  factors  that  are  influential  toward  this  end.    The  first  seeds  of 

premature  break-down  are  sown  during  the  growing  period.  The  forcing  system  of  education, 
lack  of  proper  physical  training,  combined  with  umoholesome  schoolrooms,  are  largely  accountable 
for  imperfect  development;  and  thus  do  multitudes  of  youths  enter  on  life's  work  handicapped 
by  physical  weakness. 

Mr.  Smead  :  I  can  see  signs  of  beginning  reform  in  one  feature  that  you  have  mentioned. 
Schools  of  manual  training  embody  my  idea  of  a  perfect  educational  system;  and  more  attention 
is  being  given  to  physical  training,  is  there  not  ? 

Dr.  :  You  are  quite  right,  but  it  is  no  easy  j)roblem  to  stem  the  tide  of  degeneracy. 

An  imperative  duty  devolves  on  every  school  board  and  corps  of  instructors  having  youth  in  their 
care.  The  laws  making  education  in  any  way  compulsari/  at  the  same  time  impose  on  the  public 
servants  assuming  control  of  school  pro])erty  a  serious  obligation. 

'  Mr.  Smead  :   You  refer  to  providing  vjholesome  schoolrooms  and  snrrottinlinijs  ? 

Dr.   :  That  is  the  duty  of  every  board  of  education.    AYe  cannot  afford  to  train  our 

higher  faculties  at  the  expense  of  our  general  physical  welfare.  That  is  what  we  have  been  doing 
for  too  many  years. 

Mr.  Smead  :  What  do  you  regard  as  the  essentials  of  a  wholesome  schoolroom  y 

Dr.  :  A  comfortable  temperature  and  pure  air.    There  are  many  otiier  features  not 

necessary  to  enumerate,  but  there  is  a  broad  field  for  reform  woi'k  in  the  above. 

Mr.  Smead  :  It  is  not  so  difiicult  to  maintain  a  comfortable  temperature,  but  the  jjure-air 
problem  is  not  a  simple  one,  as  I  have  learned  from  observation  and  many  costly  experiences. 

Dr.  :  It  has  been  worked  at  for  a  century,  and  what  is  the  result '?    A  general  distrust 

of  all  methods  and  an  educated  indifference  toward  the  pernicious  influences  of  breathing  impure 
air.  The  spirit  of  the  times  demands  an  energetic  reformer  —  one  who  can  force  the  indifl'erent 
to  see  the  error  of  their  ways  ;  stimulate  in  them  the  spirit  of  incjuiry  ;  give  them  a  few  object 
lessons. 

Mr.  Smead  :  By  object  lessons  you  mean  the  insi)ection  of  a  practical  operating  system  of 
ventilation,  do  you  not? 

Dr.  :  That  is  just  what  I  refer  to.    The  -personal  inspection  of  a  perfect  system  of 

ventilation  and  warming  is  a  most  potent  public  educator.  The  contrast  between  p)erfect  ventila- 
tion and  no  ventilation  is  as  light  to  darkness,  and  those  who  are  too  indilfin-ent  to  choose  the 
former  can  make  no  better  bequest  to  the  world  than  their  own  ashes. 

Mr.  Smead  :  You  are  quite  right,  doctor,  when  you  say  that  personal  inspection  is  a  powerful 
argument  where  there  is  real  merit  in  the  thing  inspected. 

Dr.  :  The  superior  merit  of  your  system  has  enal)led  you  to -fearlessly  provoke  ]>ublic 

criticism,  confident  of  a  favorable  issue  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  Public  criticism  has  almost  invariably  resulted  to  our  advantage;  what  is  the 
result  of  your  inspection  at  the  Segur  Avenue  School  building  ?  What  were  your  first  impressions 
on  entering  ? 


*  Preyer  states  that  one-fourth  of  all  students  are  injured  phjsically  by  the  educational  process  ;  60  per  cent  of  the  students  are 
physically  disabled  and  unfit  for  life's  work.— Co^f/ress  of  Physicians  and  Nattiralists,  Wiesbaden. 


84 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


Dr.  :  The  temperature  in  the  spacious  halls  was  about  the  same  as  that  of  the  rooms. 

Tlie  thermometer  did  not  vary  three  degrees  from  12°  in  any  part  of  the  rooms.  The  atmosphere 
was  perfect,  in  as  far  as  the  senses  can  judge,  on  the  days  of  my  inspection. 

Mr.  Smead :  To  what  extent  can  the  senses  be  depended  on  in  investigations  of  this 
cliaracter  ? 

Dr.  :  Elaborate  experiments  by  Dr.  de  Chaumont  jjrove  that  the  organic  constituents 

of  expired  air  corresponding  to  carbonic  acid  gas  to  the  amount  of  .4  parts  per  1000  above  that  in 
the  normal  air  (.35  per  1000)  can  be  detected  by  the  educated  senses. 

Mr.  Smead  :  Our  senses  are  then  capable  of  giving  us  reliable  warning,  under  favorable 
circumstances,  as  I  understand,  when  the  accumulation  of  respiratory  products  has  reached  a 
deleterious  amount. 

Dr.  :  The  evidence  of  our  senses,  referring  to  those  who  have  these  faculties  unim- 
paired, is  to  all  jjractical  purposes  reliable,  in  so  far  as  most  of  the  natural  gases  of  decomposition 
are  concerned.  There  are  poisonous  gases  developed  in  certain  artificial  filth  reservoirs,  as,  for 
example,  sewers,  of  which  our  senses  give  us  no  warning.  I  regard  the  sewer,  as  ordinarily  con- 
structed, as  the  most  pernicious  of  all  the  features  that  mark  the  era  of  city  building,  since  it 
becomes  a  vast  reservoir  for  accumulation  of  the  gaseous  products  of  putrefaction  of  which  the 
pipes  entering  the  houses  are  the  highest  portion,  and  consequently  the  most  natural  outlets  for 
such  gas.  But  they  are  dangerous  chiefly  because  the  gases  so  generated  are  those  against  which 
man  has  developed  but  little  resisting  power.  We  are  all  well  aware  how  much  ordinary  above- 
ground  stench  and  filtli  the  human  system  is  capable  of  withstanding.  Nature  has  developed  a 
certain  amount  of  resisting  power,  and  has  cultivated  in  us  a  faculty  that  can  warn  us  of  such 
deleterious  influences  ;  but  the  sewer  and  its  own  peculiar  products  of  decomposition  is  a  con- 
comitant of  modern  civilization,  and  man  has  not  as  yet  developed  a  resisting  power  to  withstand 
their  injurious  influences  ;  nor  have  Ave  even  a  faculty  capable  of  warning  us  of  the  presence  of 
these  dangerous  gases.  Not  only  general  debility  may  follow  the  breathing  of  sewer  gas,  but 
most  of  the  zymotic  diseases,  as  diphtheria  and  scarlet  fever,  are  aided  in  their  work  of  destruction, 
and  epidemics  of  typhoid  fever  have  been  traced  directly  to  the  presence  of  sewer  gas.* 

Mr.  Smead  :  Then  would  you  say,  doctor,  that  the  odors  coming  from  decomposing  human 
ordure  are  not  injurious  in  proportion  as  they  are  disagreeable  ? 

Dr.  :  I  do  not  mean  to  say  all  of  that,  but  I  can  assert  that  I  should  prefer  to  risk  my 

health  working  as  a  scavenger,  carting  ofi:  above-ground  filth,  than  to  be  compelled  to  live  where 
emanations  from  a  sewer  more  or  less  constantly  (and  without  the  warning  of  our  senses)  con- 
taminate the  air. 

Mr.  Smead  :  You  feel  that  your  system  can  resist  and  throw  off  the  emanations  from 
ordinary  jjutref action,  but  you  fear  the  gases  developed  in  underground  reservoirs  where  there  is 
absolutely  no  change  of  air  from  one  year's  end  to  another,  and  poisonous  gases  become  concen- 
trated and  ever  more  and  more  virulent  '?  f 


*  See  paper  read  before  Hygienic  Congress  of  Vienna,  188",  by  Prof.  Brouardel ;  and  Epidemic  of  Typhoid  Fever  in  Michigan 
State's  Prison,  Jaoksou,  by  Prof.  Vaughan. 

I  Dr.  H.  J.  Herrick,  Professor  of  Hygiene  in  the  Medical  Department  of  Western  Reserve  University  says:  "The  relative 
capacity  of  air  and  water  for  destroying  noxious  elements  and  for  purifying  might  be  a  matter  of  some  question.  The  atmos- 
phere has,  to  my  mind,  a  very  much  greater  capacity  for  destroying  and  diffusing  the  noxious  germs  or  noxious  gases  than 
the  water.  According  to  authoritative  statements  sewer  water  has  a  capacity  for  discharging  an  almost  illimitable  amount  of 
noxious  vapor  wherever  it  is  found.  Dr.  Letheby  found  that  sewage  water  excluded  from  air  and  containing  128  grains  of 
organic  matter  per  gallon  yielded  one  and  two-tenths  cubic  inches  of  gas  per  hour  during  a  period  of  nine  weeks.  The  pecu- 
liar fetid  smell  of  sewage  gas  is  owing  to  the  presence  of  organic  matter  whose  exact  chemical  composition  has  not  been  deter- 
mined. It  is  believed  by  some  to  be  carbo-ammoniacal.  According  to  Dr.  Cunningham  it  contains  distinct  bacteria  and  other  low 
forms  of  cell  life.  Now,  water  has  a  capacity,  especially  running  water,  for  purifying  itself  It  is  claimed,  as  I  remember  it. 
that  a  distance  in  rivers  of  twenty  miles  is  sufficient  to  render  running  water  comparatively  pure  from  sewers  entering  the  river 
above.  I  am  not  certain  as  to  the  distance,  but  that  is  a  fair  estimate.  The  methods  by  which  the  water  is  purified  are  by 
animals  or  iilants  in  the  water,  by  the  action  of  oxygen  upon  the  organic  matter,  that  is,  aeration,  by  the  diffusion  of  the 
noxious  material  and  by  sedimentation.  The  methods  of  purifying  the  atmosphere  from  its  noxious  gases  and  elements  are : 
By  the  rapid  difi'usion  of  the  gases  in  the  atmosphere,  by  the  action  of  oxygen  which  is  always  ready  to  consume  — especially 
where  there  is  any  amount  of  ozone  it  is  active  for  the  destruction  of  organic  matter  — and,  coincident,  is  the  action  of  vegetable 
life,  which  rapidly  consumes  by  an  appropriation  of  carbonic  acid  gases,  and,  it  is  supposed,  also  of  mephitic  gases.  These  are 
the  natural  methods  by  which  the  atmosphere  is  kept  free  from  gases  or  conditions  uufavorable  to  animal  life." 

"According  to  a  well-known  law  the  diffusion  of  gases  is  in  a  still  atmosphere  proportioned  to  the  square  of  the  distance. 
Currents  of  air,  winds,  vastly  increase  the  rapidity  of  the  diffusion.  Gases  discharged  into  the  atmosphere  the  height  of  the 
high  school  stacks  are  very  rapidly  diffused.  Bear  in  mind  that  the  contents  of  those  closet  vaults  are  comparatively  small.  There 
are  perhaps  50U  evacuations  in  each  twenty-four  hours.  It  must  be  seen  that  the  vapors  from  these  contents  are  very  rapidly 
diffused  and  that  they  are  not  a  perceptible  factor  for  rendering  the  atmosphere  impure." 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


85 


Dr.  :  Tliat  is  a  concise  statement  of  my  belief,  and  recently  adopted  systems  of 

sewerage,  as  for  instance  the  Waring  system,  recognize  tliis  fact  and  reduce  as  miicli  as  possible 
the  danger  from  accumulation  of  gases  by  reducing  the  size  of  the  sewer  to  the  actual  volume  of 
solid  excrementitious  material  to  be  disposed  of. 

Mr.  Smead  :  To  return  to  our  original  theme.  You  would  say  that  the  absence  of  any  odors 
in  a  schoolroom  to  one  coming  from  the  outer  air  is  proof  that  the  air  is  wholesome. 

Dr.  :  This  is  certainly  true,  but  the  converse  does  not  necessarily  hold.   The  presence 

of  odors  does  not  always  indicate  a  positively  unwholesome  air.  There  are  so  many  sources  of 
human  odors  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  keep  a  schoolroom  absolutely  odorless.  The  home 
life  of  many  school  children  is  such  that  the  clothing  often  becomes  saturated  with  the  odors  of 
the  close  living-room  or  still  more  fragrant  kitchen,  and  a  few  uncleanly  children  can  contaminate 
the  air  of  a  whole  room. 

Mr.  Smead  :  You  regard  the  organic  gases  as  tJie  deletei'ious  constituents  of  breathed  aii'. 
What  part  does  carbonic  acid  gas  play  as  a  gaseous  excreta? 

Dr.  :  It  is  conveniently  used  as  an  index  of  respiratory  impurity,  being  much  easier 

of  determination  than  organic  matter  ;  but  it  is  harmless  as  compared  with  the  oigaiiic  matter  in 
suspension  in  watery  va])or  and  organic  gases,  and  it  is  very  diffusible  and  does  not  accumulate 
so  readily.  Dift'usion  is  constantly  going  on,  and  the  air  of  a  room  may  be  thus  freed  from  much 
of  the  carbonic  acid  gas  ;  especially  in  poorly  constructed  buildings  where  there  are  many  cracks 
and  crevices  left  by  the  "  sanitary  "  carpenter  ! 

Mr.  Smead  :  But  obviously  this  watery  vapor  is  not  so  diffusible  as  the  carbonic  acid  gas, 
and  the  air  of  a  room  is  less  easily  freed  from  it.  I  should  think  that  it  would  be  liable  to 
accumulate  wherever  the  air  stagnates,  and  especially  on  all  cold  surfaces,  since  saturation  of  the 
air  varies  with  the  temperature. 

Dr.  :  That  is  just  what  does  take  place.    The  amount  of  watery  vapor,  more  or  less 

saturated  with  organic  matter  in  suspension  and  organic  gases  exhaled  by  every  adult,  is  about 
nine  ounces  in  twenty-four  hours.  It  may  be  asserted  that  theoJ>ject  of  a  ventilation  system  should 
he  to  relieve  the  air  of  a  room  of  the  organic  constituents  and  prevent  deposit  by  strong,  constant 
out-going  currents  of  air.  There  is  just  this  difference  between  a  well-ventilated  room  and  one 
poorly  ventilated.  The  one  constantly  filled  with  Nature's  purest,  the  other  a  reservoir  receiving 
daily  the  deposit  of  a  putrescent  sediment  on  walls  and  ceiling  until  it  becomes  a  place  suitable 
only  for  the  myriads  of  minute  organisms,  whose  sole  reason  for  existence  is  to  haunt  the  abodes 
of  higher  forms  of  animal  life  and  thrive  and  multiply  on  the  products  of  decomposing  organic 
matter.  If  the  condensed  breath  collected  on  the  cool  window  ])anes  of  a  room  when  a  number 
of  persons  have  been  assembled  be  burned,  a  smell  as  of  singed  hair  will  show  the  presence  of 
organic  matter,  and  if  the  condensed  breath  be  allowed  to  remain  on  the  windows  a  few  days  it 
will  be  found,  on  examiiiation  by  microscope,  that  it  is  alive  with  bacteria  and  animalciikii.  It 
is  the  inhalation  of  air  containing  such  putrescent  matter  which  causes  half  of  the  sick  headaches 
which  might  be  avoided  by  a  circulation  of  fresh  air. 

Mr.  Smead  :  Doctor,  have  you  ever  made  any  chemical  tests  of  the  air  in  rooms  ventilated 
by  my  system  ? 

Dr.  :  I  have,  and  can  present  one  series  of  such  observations  in  a  tabulated  form. 


On  May  11,  Hon.  E.  G.  Hubbard,  President  Board  of  Education,  Tiffin,  Ohio,  writes:  "  In  reply  to  your 
favor  of  the  9th  inst.,  bey  to  say  that  with  my  experience  in  examining  the  practical  workings  of  the  different 
systems  of  heating  and  ventilation,  I  am  most  decidedly  in  favor  of  the  Smead  over  any  other  now  before  the 
country,  for  it  has  certainly  given  us  eminent  satisfaction.  In  regard  to  tlie  dry  closets  you  speak  of,  I  inclose 
explanatory  letter  from  our  superintendent,  Mr.  J.  W.  Knott,  who  has  been  with  us  ever  since  the  first  intro- 
duction of  the  Smead  system  in  our  school  buildings." 

The  following  is  from  the  letter  of  Superintendent  Knott  referred  to  above : 

"  I  think  you  can  safely  indorse  the  system  of  dry  closets  put  in  by  Smead  &  Co.  In  any  building  in 
which  there  is  any  means  of  causing  an  upward  current  in  the  ventilating  flues  of  the  vaults,  the  closets 
cannot  fail  to  give  satisfaction.  In  our  new  building  they  coiae  as  near  doing  their  work  perfectly  as  anything 
of  the  sort  which  I  have  ever  seen." 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


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Amount,  in  cubic  feet  per  hour,  for 
each  200  cubic  feet  of  room  .space. 
(Each  pupil  has  about  200  cubic  feet. 

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ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


91 


BASEMENT  PLAN  SEGUR  AVENUE  SCHOOL  BUILDING,  TOLEDO. 


ISAAC  r>.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


93 


SECOND  STORY  PLAN  SEGUR  AVENUE  SCHOOL  BUILDING,  TOLEDO. 


96 


ISAAC  T>.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


Mr.  Sraead  :  Please  give  me  further  results  of  the  Segur  School  building  inspection. 

Dr.  :  The  volume  of  air  entering  each  of  four  rooms  that  ventilated  into  one  common 

stack  was  between  67,000  and  78,000  cubic  feet  each  hour.  This  was  determined  by  an  air  meter 
accurately  gauged.    (See  plan  of  Segur  building  on  page  91.) 

Mr.  Smead  :  Then,  if  that  volume  of  air  entered  the  room,  there  must  have  been  a  corre- 
sponding outflow. 

Dr.  :  This  was  also  determined.  I  went  to  the  top  of  the  ventilating  shaft  (in  com- 
munication with  these  four  rooms  alone)  and  measured  the  volume  of  air  escaping  per  hour.  I 
found  it  to  be  about  300,000  cubic  feet.* 

Mr.  Smead  :  How  does  that  agree  with  your  measured  inflow? 

Dr.  :  Remarkably  well.    The  measured  inflow  at  the  four  registers  in  the  rooms  was 

291,420  cubic  feet  per  hour  ;  the  outflow  at  the  mouth  of  the  stack  was  about  300,000  cubic  feet 
per  hour. 

Mr.  Smead  :  Is  the  current  constant,  doctor  ? 

Dr.  :  I  have  never  remarked  any  noticeable  variation  where  the  fires  are  uniform. 

Mr.  Smead  :  According  to  your  estimates  at  this  insjiection,  what  is  the  supply  of  air  for 
each  pupil  in  the  rooms  ? 

Dr.  :  The  seating  capacity  of  the  four  rooms  is  about  160;  300,000  cubic  feet  per 

hour  would  allow  nearly  2,000  cubic  feet  to  each  of  the  160  present. 

Mr.  Smead  :  What  do  you  consider  a  fair  allowance  ? 

Dr.  :  Under  ordinary  circumstances,  1,500  to  1,800  cubic  feet  per  capita  is  an  ample 

allowance. 

Mr.  Smead  :  The  dimensions  of  each  of  these  rooms  are  26x36x12,  making  11,233  cubic  feet 
contents.  The  air  in  the  rooms  would  be  completely  changed  every  ten  minutes.  That  is  not  a 
bad  showing. 

Dr.  :  I  was  somewhat  astonished  myself,  and  regard  it  as  one  of  the  grandest  achieve- 
ments of  modern  sanitary  science.  How  do  you  produce  such  a  uniform  temperature  ?  Actual 
trial  at  floor,  ceiling  and  on  two  sides  of  the  room  showed  a  remarkable  uniformity.  There  was 
not  over  two  degrees  F.  variation  from  73°. 

Mr.  Smead:  The  air  enters  in  large  volume,  and  rarely  above  120°  F.  Of  course  it  is 
possible  to  heat  the  air  much  hotter,  but  there  is  no  necessity  for  a  janitor  allowing  it  to  get  above 
120°  F.  Remember  that  an  ordinary  stove  heats  the  air  near  it  to  200°  F.  The  gentle  to-and- 
fro  currents  dissipate  evenly  over  the  whole  room,  and  there  is  a  gradual  settling  of  the  upper 
strata  of  air,  the  lower  strata  passing  out  at  the  outlets  in  the  base-board,  and  thence  under  the 
floor  on  the  way  to  the  main  exit  shaft.  This  has  been  proven  by  the  smoke-test.  A  room  was 
filled  with  a  dense  smoke,  and  then  the  currents  were  established.  The  strata  next  the  floor  passed 
out  first — warm  air  from  the  register  taking  its  place  above.  This  continued  until  the  forms  of 
those  witnessing  the  trial  emerged  from  the  smoke  level,  as  the  trees  rise  above  the  fading  mists 
of  the  valley,  and  then  the  desks,  until  finally  the  last  vestige  had  passed  out  at  the  outlets  in  the 
base-board — this  change  of  air  taking  just  twenty  minutes. 

In  the  rooms  that  you  have  inspected,  the  foul  air  passes  directly  into  the  exhaust-shaft,  for 
there  is  no  "dry  closet"  in  connection  with  this  ventilating  shaft.  Did  you  inspect  the  other 
rooms  in  this  building  that  are  in  connection  with  the  dry  closet  ? 

Dr.  :  Yes,  sir  ;  and  I  can  give  you  some  interesting  figures  from  that  investigation  as 

well.  The  temperatures  ranged  between  69°  F.  and  74  (school  was  just  out  and  some  windows 
were  opened  where  the  janitor  was  sweeping).  I  then  Avent  down  into  the  basement  and  entered 
the  "  foul-air-gathering  chamber,"  on  the  boys'  side.  The  air  from  four  rooms  passes  into  this 
chamber  and  thence  over  the  vault  contents.  The  temperature  here  was  about  70°  F.  The  plat- 
form receiving  the  ordure  is  about  30  feet  long,  and  is  somewhat  elevated ;  the  current  of  air 
passing  above  and  below  it. 


*  This  estimate  is  a  little  too  high,  since  a  portion  of  the  outlet  at  the  top  of  the  stack  was  necessarily  blocked  by  the  body  of 
the  person  holding  the  air  meter,  and  hence  the  velocity  was  increased  ;  but  no  deduction  was  made. 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


!)7 


Mr.  Smcad  :  What  volume  of  air  did  you  iiiid  passing  at  tins  point,  i.  e.,  through  the  dry 
closet  ? 

Dr.  :  On  the  boys'  side,  I  measured  the  volume  of  air  passing  each  hour  as  338,250 

cubic  feet.    On  the  girls'  side  of  the  building,  the  result  was  381,300  cubic  feet  each  hour. 

Mr.  Smead  :  That  makes  a  velocity  of  over  seven  miles  an  hour  ;  quite  breezy  for  a  closet 
vault.* 

Dr.  :  There  are  few  cities  whose  streets  are  as  thoroughly  disinfected  by  purifying- 
winds  as  are  the  closet  vaults  with  your  system.  Your  comparison  of  the  contents  of  such  vaults 
with  the  "buffalo  chips  "  of  the  plains  is  a  very  appropriate  one. 

Mr.  Smead  :  Yes,  and  I  have  often  wished  that  I  could  imitate  Nature  still  fuilher  by  getting 
a  little  direct  sunlight  into  those  vaults.  Have  you  ever  examined  carefully  the  contents  of  a 
vault  ?  It  is  only  by  such  close  inspection  that  the  skeptical  can  be  convinced  of  the  state  of 
"  innocuous  desuetude  "  to  which  human  ordure  can  be  reduced.  Describe  more  minutely  this 
drying  process. 

Dr.  :  Human  ordure  is  mixed  with  more  or  less  mucus  from  the  bowels.    In  health 

this  is  only  moderate  in  quantity,  but  there  is  suthcient  to  form  a  thin  pellicle  around  the  drying 
mass.  This  drying  progresses  until  there  is  only  a  porous,  parched  mass  left,  retaining  the  original 
form  and  very  tough  and  firm  in  structure. 

Mr.  Smead  :  Now  that  reminds  me,  doctor,  that  I  was  accused  not  long  ago  of  being  instru- 
mental in  the  infection  of  whole  communities.  One  would  thiidi  that  I  had  invented  a  duease- 
germ  factory  ;  and  the  imprecations  of  the  gods  were  invoked  to  punish  me.  Such  accusations, 
couched  in  terms  of  ominous  scientific  meaning,  worried  me  ;  but  I  soon  made  up  my  mind  to  fight 
it  out,  for  a  great  fear  of  death  came  over  me  then.  How  could  I  face  the  multitudes  whose 
death  I  had  caused?  My  friends  were  all  among  the  living.  I  worried  some,  investigated  a  great 
deal,  and  finally  I  simply  made  up  my  mind  to  <jo  on  making  more  friends  in  this  world,  and  let 
the  "  disease-germ  "  scare  die  a  natural  death. 

Dr.  :  A  little  knowledge,  in  a  head  that  has  ample  natural  ventilating  capacity,  can 

stir  up  quite  a  commotion,  especially  on  such  a  vital  question  as  that  pertaining  to  health  and 
disease;  but  the  question  has  at  last  found  a  natural  resting-place,  as  far  as  your  dry  closets  are 
concerned,  has  it  not  ? 

Mr.  Smead  :  I  think  so,  but  should  like  a  little  testimony  from  you  on  this  point.  What 
"disease  germs  " — admitting  that  they  do  exist — can  be  feared  by  the  most  skeptical  ? 

Dr.   :  That  of  typhoid  fever  is  the  only  one  that  can  be  feared  in  connection  with  dry 

closets.  There  cannot  be  much  danger  from  this  disease,  since  the  sjiecific  germ  probably  does 
not  appear  in  the  excreta  until  the  disease  is  quite  well  established.  Typhoid  fever  is  most  com- 
mon between  the  ages  of  fifteen  and  twenty-five.  There  are  few  children  attending  the  public 
schools  more  than  nineteen  years  of  age.  Hence  it  is  quite  rare  that  a  child  sick  of  typhoid  fever 
would  be  found  in  school,  and  still  more  rarely  would  the  disease  be  so  far  advanced  that  the 
specific  germ  would  have  made  its  appearance  in  the  stools.  And,  even  admitting  that  the 
hacillus  typlimus  may  find  its  way  into  the  vault,  I  don't  see  how  it  could  get  into  the  atmosphere. 

Mr.  Smead  :  It  seems  to  me  the  germs  would  be  retained  in  the  dry  mass.  I  never  advise 
that  the  contents  of  the  vaults  be  stirred  up.  Surely  nothing  of  an  infectious  nature  can  survive 
the  burning  to  which  I  recommend  that  the  vault  contents  be  subjected  at  convenient  intervals. 
Is  it  possible  for  these  minute  disease  germs  to  grow  and  multiply  in  a  dry  closet  ? 

Dr.  ■  :  They  are  as  uncomfortable  there  as  a  fish  out  of  water.    Cholera  bacillus  is 

absolutely  destroyed  by  a  few  hours  of  drying,  according  to  many  experiments  carried  on  in 
Koch's  laboratory,  Berlin,  and  as  far  as  typhoid  bacillus  is  concerned,  only  the  spores  could  2>ossi- 
bly  survive  the  drying.  Moisture  is  all-essential  to  the  welfare  of  bacteria  of  disease  and  of 
decomposition,  and  that  is  the  reason  why  they  love  the  methods  of  the  plumber,  but  wither  uj) 
and  die  under  the  enormous  fiow  of  oxygen  that  hourly  passes  through  your  dry  closets. 


*  Compare  this  with  the  amount  escaping  at  the  exhaust-shaft  not  operating  in  connection  with  "  dry  closets  "—having  no  foul- 
air-gathering  chamber— the  air  from  rooms  passing  directly  into  the  shaft  at  its  own  floor  level. 


98 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


Mr.  Smead  :  But  to  come  back  to  the  inspection.  What  volume  of  air  did  you  find  passing 
through  each  of  the  dry  closet  vaults  ? 

Dr.  :  About  350,000  cubic  feet  per  hour  is  the  average  through  each  vault. 

Mr.  Smead  :  This  is  equivalent  to  2,735  cords  per  hour  ;  how  much  moisture  is  that  capable 
of  taking  up  ? 

Dr.  :  If  it  leaves  the  rooms  at  80  per  cent  relative  humidity,  it  is  capable  of  taking 

up  about  5  gallons  of  water  an  hour,  or  about  120  gallons  for  twenty-four  hours  ;  60  gallons  for 
twelve  hours. 

Mr.  Smead :   What  would  be  the  amount  of  daily  watery  excreta  for  about  360  pupils  ? 
Dr.  :  About  9,000  ounces  of  water  is  a  liberal  estimate.* 

Mr.  Smead  :  There  are  128  ounces  in  a  gallon,  and  hence  5  gallons  per  hour  is  equivalent  to 
640  ounces  an  hour.  We  should  multiply  this  by  two  to  find  the  total  amount  of  evaporation 
going  on  in  both  boys'  and  girls'  closets,  giving  1,280  ounces  an  hour.  Now  the  number  of  hours 
during  which  the  air  is  passing  at  the  rate  of  350,000  cubic  feet  varies.  Here  in  Toledo  it  passes 
nearly  twenty-four  hours,  because  we  have  natural  gas  ;  but  ten  hours  is  a  fair  estimate  for  most 
other  places.  This,  then,  gives  us  an  evaporating  capacity  of  nearly  13,000  ounces  of  water  each 
day,  while  the  maximum  estimated  daily  excretion  of  water  is  about  9,000  ounces. 

Dr.  :  The  basis  of  computation  is  certainly  very  fair. 

Mr.  Smead  :  Well,  you  know  I  like  fact  figures  better  than  theoretical  figures  anyway,  and 
since  fact  figures  are  obtainable  let  us  comjjare  the  theoretical  figures  with  them.  I  agree  with 
you  that  your  estimates  seem  very  fair,  judged  from  a  common-sense  point  of  view,  but  let  us 
look  at  the  facts.  I  recently  estimated  (by  weighing  a  portion)  the  dried  residue  in  one  of  those 
closets.  I  found  about  56  pounds  in  each  closet,  making  less  than  120  pounds  of  dried  residue 
in  both.  This  has  accumulated  in  about  120  days,  making  less  than  1  pound  dried  residue  per 
day  from  360  pupils,  while,  according  to  your  estimate,  there  should  be  something  over  10  pounds 
a  day  of  dried  deposit. 

Dr.  :  My  figures  are  outside  estimates — a  mixed  population  of  a  city  averages  about 

2+  ounces  per  day  excreta.  I  assumed  2  ounces  for  school  children — rather  high.  Hence  you  see 
that  my  estimates  on  the  capacity  of  evaporation  are  also  outside  and  safe  figures,  the  premises 
being  granted. 

Mr.  Smead  :  Right  here,  doctor,  I  should  like  to  read  you  an  extract  from  Sewall's  article  on 
"  The  Physiology  of  Respiration  ": 

THE  PHYSIOLOGY  OF  RESPIRATION. 

It  is  said  that  we  breathe  to  purify  the  blood.  But  how?  Why  is  it,  then,  when  we  wish  to  preserve,  to 
keep  pure,  any  organized  matter,  as  vegetables  or  meat,  we  remove,  as  far  as  possible,  all  air,  and  secure  it 
from  its  action?  If  tlie  air  will  purify  the  blood,  why  not  meat,  or  any  other  organized  body?  Now  we  know 
that  the  air — or  the  positive  acting  agent,  the  oxygen — always  acts  as  a  destroyer ;  its  sole  office  is  to  tear  down, 
to  break  uj)  all  organic  compounds  and  resolve  their  elements  into  simple  and  more  stable  groups.  Its  office 
and  tendency  is  everywhere  the  same,  and  unless  this  tendency  be  resisted  by  some  antagonizing  force  the 
oxygen  would  speedily  and  completely  destroy  the  whole  organized  world.  Then  why  does  not  oxygen 
destroy  the  animal?  It  does,  and  yet  does  not.  It  feeds  upon  the  very  tissues  of  the  body,  and  is  fed  by 
tiiem;  it  demands  victims  to  be  sacrificed  to  appease  its  never-satiated  appetite;  and  were  it  not  for  that 
strange  and  mighty  force  which  we  name  and  recognize,  but  do  not  comprehend — vitality — which  regulates 
and  controls  the  action  of  this  agent,  it  would  speedily  resolve  all  organized  matter  into  stable  and  lifeless 
forms.  Literally,  the  organized  world  would  be  burned  up  and  naught  left  but  its  ashes;  and  when  vitality 
ceases  to  antagonize  or  resist  its  action  we  return  to  the  dust  from  which  we  sprung. 


*  Eacli  pupil  is  assumed  to  pass  about  2.5  ounces  of  watery  excreta  daily,  and  2  ounces  of  solid.  This  gives  about  9,000  ounces  oi 
water  daily,  for  300  pupils,  to  be  evaporated.  One  cubic  foot  of  air  at  65°  F.  and  SI  per  cent  relative  humidity  is  capable  of  taliingup 
.312  grains  of  watery  vapor  before  it  is  saturated  (the  air  rarely  reaches  81  per  cent  relative  humidity  in  rooms,  and  is  often  above 
70°  iu  vaults).  The  exposure  is  not  complete,  and  so  it  is  assumed  in  the  above  that  1  grain  (instead  of  1.32)  is  fallen  up  by  each  cubic 
foot  of  air  passing  through  the  TauKs.  c50,000  cubic  feet  pass  through,  and  hence  350,000  grains  of  water  are  taken  up  each  hour, 
or  700,000  on  both  boys'  and  girls'  sides  of  building,  equal  to  10  gallons.  Solid  excreta,  2  ounces  per  day  per  capita,  gives  720  ounces" 
per  day,  less  75  per  cent  for  water,  equals  ISO  ounces  per  day,  being  more  ttan  10  pounds  per  day  dried  residue. 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


99 


Then,  breathing  is  not  for  the  purpose  of  purifying  the  blood,  but  to  break  down  the  tissues  of  the  body 
and  remove  them  under  the  direction  and  control  of  the  vital  principle.  In  all  animal  tissues  there  is  a  work 
performed  which  has  a  tendency  to  wear  out  and  render  unfit  for  service  parts  of  themselves — parts  or  mole- 
cules that  have  lost  their  vitality — and  these  worn-out  molecules  become  the  food  for  oxygen.  These  worn- 
out  atoms  are,  for  the  most  part,  hydrogen  and  carbon.  The  oxygen  seizes  upon  them  and  converts  them,  by 
thus  uniting  with  them,  into  carbonic  acid  and  water,  or,  using  another  figui-e,  the  oxygen  may  be  regarded 
as  scavenger  boats,  which  enter  the  lungs,  pass  into  the  blood,  and  are  carried  into  every  part  of  the  body, 
where  they  are  loaded  with  these  worn-out  elements,  carbon  and  hydrogen.  With  these  loads  they  return 
through  the  veins  to  the  lungs  and  pass  out  into  the  air  in  the  form  of  carbonic  acid  and  vapor  of  water. 
They  are  now  taken  up  by  the  leaves  of  the  trees,  unloaded,  the  carbon  and  hydrogen  entering  into  and 
becoming  a  part  of  the  tree,  while  the  unloaded  scavenger  boats  (oxygen)  are  returned  to  the  atmosphere  to 
repeat  the  process.  Verily,  then,  the  "leaves  are  for  the  healing  of  the  nations."  This,  then,  is  the  office  of 
respiration — to  remove  the  worn-out  tissues  of  the  body. 

Now  if  the  air  is  more  or  less  saturated  with  this  carbonic  acid,  some  of  these  loaded  barges,  when  we 
inhale  a  breath  of  air,  will  enter  too.  The  demand  of  the  tissues  is  for  vehicles  to  carry  away  the  waste  pro- 
ducts, and  the  demand  is  imperative ;  and  though  the  loaded  barges  go  at  the  call  of  the  suffering  tissues, 
they  cannot  remove  any  of  the  material,  for  they  are  already  completely  loaded.  Two  atoms  of  oxygen  can 
take  but  one  of  carbon,  and  therefore  they  but  obstruct  and  block  up  the  way,  and  thus  produce  disorder  and 
disturbance — disease. 

Now  there  must  always  be  a  small  amount  of  carbonic  acid  in  the  atmosphere,  because  it  is  continually 
being  emitted  by  the  whole  animal  kingdom,  and  as  a  product  of  combustion  and  decay.  Yet,  by  the 
peculiar  law  of  gaseous  diffusions,  it  is  so  completely  diffused  through  or  mingled  with  the  atmosphere  that 
it  amounts  to  only  ^too  of  'ts  weight. 

As  the  specific  gravity  of  carbonic  acid  is  considerably  greater  than  that  of  the  air,  were  it  not  for  this 
gaseous  diffusion  it  would  settle  to  the  bottom  of  the  atmospheric  ocean  and  form  a  layer  five  feet  in  dej^th. 

But  if  only  the  normal  amount  be  present,  it  is  completely  diffused,  so  that  we  find  it  existing  in  exactly 
the  same  proportion  on  the  mountain  and  in  the  valley.  But  if  more  than  jsVo  be  present,  the  tendency  is 
to  settle  at  the  bottom,  making  the  ten  per  cent  of  carbonic  acid  greater  near  the  surface  than  in  the  higher 
regions.  Thus  in  the  Grotto  del  Cane,  in  Italy,  where  the  gas  esca]3es  in  large  quantities  from  the  earth, 
all  animals  entering  the  cave  almost  instantly  die  from  the  effect  of  breathing  the  carbonic  acid.  Now,  if  the 
air  contain  only  one  or  two  per  cent,  its  effect  is  clearly  poisonous.  If  ten  per  cent,  it  produces  immediate 
death. 

Mr.  Smead  :  That  is  a  beautiful  explanation  of  the  part  that  oxygen  plays,  and  it  seems  to 
me  that  there  is  an  actual  destruction  of  dried  fecal  matter  constantly  going  on  and  passing  ofE 
in  combination  with  oxygen.  This  may  account  for  the  very  small  amount  of  residuum  found 
in  the  vaults  as  compared  with  your  estimates.  These  features  aie  interesting,  but  let  us  refer 
bade  to  the  schoolrooms  and  their  relation  to  disease  propagation.  Why  do  childhood  diseases 
spread  so  rapidly  ? 

Dr.  :  Because  as  a  rule  school  children  breathe  and  re-breathe  the  same  air.  The 

natural  vitality  and  resisting  power  of  the  system  is  thereby  lowered,  and  the  element  of  contagion 
is  free  to  gain  access  to  the  system,  and  the  work  of  disease  begins. 

Mr.  Smead  :  Surely  then  good  ventilation  in  schoolrooms  and  pure,  wholesome  air  will  lessen 
spreading  of  contagious  diseases. 

Dr.  :  You  are  quite  right  in  your  inference  and  statistics  will  prove  the  same.  Brown- 

Sequard  reports  that  he  has  found  and  isolated  a  poisonous  ptomaine  (an  organic  constituent) 
in  the  air  from  tlie  lungs,  and  that  its  poisonous  effects  are  intensified  by  raising  the  tempera- 
ture. This  may  account  for  the  rapid  spreading  of  childhood  diseases  to  a  large  extent,  for  in 
the  diseased  state  such  poisonous  excreta  are  certainly  increased.  Heating  by  direct  radiation 
(as  by  stove  or  steam-coil  in  the  room)  would  then  have  the  effect  of  heating  up  the  poisonous 
constituents  of  the  breatlied  air,  and  thus  intensify  their  virulency.  This  method  of  heating- 
would  not  even  dilute  these  poisons,  but  they  continue  to  accumulate,  and  are  not  only  re-breathed 
but  are  deposited  on  walls  and  ceiling,  and,  together  with  watery  vapor  and  organic  matter, 
furnish  a  most  excellent  feeding-ground  for  disease  germs  to  grow  and  multijily. 

Mr.  Smead:  Doctor,  what  becomes  of  the  "foul  air,"  laden  with  human  emanations  and 
gases  resulting  from  the  destruction  of  the  vault  contents,  after  it  escapes  from  the  top  of  the 
ventilating  stacks  that  I  erect  ? 


100 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


Dr.  :  I  have  frequently  taken  the  temperature  at  the  stack  outlet,  and  have  always 

found  it  more  than  10°  F.  above  that  of  the  surrounding  air.  Now  the  rate  of  ascent  of  the 
air  in  the  ventilating  shaft  depends  on  the  difEerence  in  temperature  between  the  air  in  the 
shaft  (it  is  better  to  take  the  average  of  the  whole  si/steni  from  the  furnace  to  the  shaft  outlet) 
and  that  of  the  atmosphere  outside.  Hence,  if  we  have  10°  F.  difference  at  the  outlet,  the 
average  for  the  whole  system  would  be  much  higher,  and  (disregarding  friction)  this  difference 
of  temperature  is  an  index  of  the  velocity  of  outgoing  current. 

Mr.  Smead  :  If  you  found  the  air  of  the  shaft  outlet  10°  F.  higher  than  the  outside  air,  the 
average  for  the  whole  system  would  give  at  least  20°  difference.  You  say  at  one  interview  that 
the  air  in  the  vault  was  70°  ;  in  other  words,  the  base  of  the  stack  is  70°,  and  the  average 
temperature  for  the  twelve  school  months  is  43°  F.  There  you  have  a  difference  of  27°  F. 
This  gave  a  current  of  about  seven  miles  per  hour  at  the  shaft  outlet. 

Doctor  :  The  air  leaves  the  mouth  of  the  foul-air  shaft  at  a  velocity  between  five  and 

seven  miles  an  hour. 

Mr.  Smead  :  On  a  still  day  that  would  certainly  continue  its  ascent,  just  as  we  often  see  the 
smoke  from  a  factory  chimney  rise  to  thirty-five  or  forty  feet  above  the  outlet.  But  I  am  aware 
that  smoke  is  not  a  gas,  and  does  not  diffuse  rapidly. 

Dr.  :  The  gases  of  which  the  foul  air  is  made  up  mingle  very  rapidly  with  the  pure 

air.  The  degree  of  dilution  is,  under  the  most  simple  calculation,  the  square  of  the  distance 
from  the  shaft  outlet.  Let  us  take  a  pailful  of  air  containing  about  one  part  of  carbonic  acid  to 
one  thousand  parts  of  air  (and  other  gases  in  proportion)  and  follow  the  rate  of  dilution.  At 
100  feet  from  the  shaft  it  would  be  about  o^e  7>«r^  q/' ^Ae  foul  gas  to  10,000,000  25«>'<s  of  air. 
Remember  that  the  oxygen  destroys  these  noxious  gases  very  rapidlj^,  and  the  sunlight  purifies 
by  the  chemical  proi)erties  of  its  rays  ;  and  when  you  consider  the  small  sx>ace  occupied  by  people 
as  compared  with  all  space  you  could  then  multiply  by  one  hundred  millions  more,  and  not  then 
reach  the  limit  of  diffusion  that  takes  place  after  the  foul  air  from  school  buildings  leaves  the 
ventilating  shaft. 

Mr.  Smead  :  What  an  overwhelming  dose  of  poisonous  air[]the  neighbor  to  the  school-house 
must  endure  !  If  he  can  muster  the  audacity  to  assert  that  this  air  is  injurious  in  such  a  state  of 
dilution,  he  would  do  well  to  carry  his  delusion  into  commercial  life  by  squeezing  a  lemon  in  the 
Maumee  river,  and  selling  Lake  Erie  by  the  glass  as  lemonade  ! 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAT)  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO.  101 


THE  DKY  CLOSET  SYSTEM  OF  DISPOSING  OF  EXCISEMEN T. 


BY   JOSEPH   A.   STILWELL,   M.   D.,   HKOWNSTOWN,  IND. 


From  Indiana  State  Board  of  Health  Report. 


This  is  worked  on  tlie  same  principle  as  that  by  wliicli  mines  and  tunnels  are  ventilati'd. 

The  thing  of  primal  necessity  is  a  shaft  or  chimney  that  will  conduct  a  column  of  air  so  high 
above  us  that  its  outjxit  will  l)e  beyond  our  breath  supply. 

This  is  necessary  in  order  not  only  that  the  foul  air  may  be  placed  beyond  our  reach  but  that 
it  may  be  thrown  out  into  a  wide  range  of  atmosphere,  where  the  great  law  of  the  diffusion  of 
gases  will  scatter  and  mix  it  in  such  a  manner  that  its  noxious  properties  are  destroyed. 

Ill  mine  ventilation  the  shaft  is  sunk  into  the  earth  until  it  reaches  the  mine  at  a  place  farthest 
from  the  shaft  by  which  the  mine  is  being  worked.  Then  heat  is  made  by  fire  at  the  bottom, 
which  lifts  the  air  to  the  top  of  the  shaft  above  ground,  and  by  the  vacuum  thus  created  fresh, 
pure  air  is  invited  down  the  work-shaft  and  carried  through  the  mine  to  the  ventilating  shaft.  A 
circulation  of  pui'e  air  is  in  this  way  supplied  to  the  miners  and  tiie  foul  air  carried  off. 

The  dry  closet  is  made  at  the  bottom  of  a  stack,  shaft  or  chimney  and  heat  applied  at  this 
l)oint.  The  heat  raises  the  air  and  carries  with  it  the  foul  volatile  matter  of  the  excreta.  Vola- 
tilization and  evaporation  are  continued  until  only  the  dry  residue  is  all  that  remains. 

To  accomplish  this  a  shaft  or  chimney  with  a  stove  at  the  bottom,  or  a  lamp  may  do  all  that 
is  needed,  with  privy  seats  so  arranged  that  a  current  of  air  will  be  conducted  from  the  outside, 
under  them,  or  through  the  holes,  to  supply  the  rarified  sijace  about  the  heated  stove.  So  long  as 
the  heat  is  kept  up  this  current  and  vaporization  will  continue,  and  the  drying  and  neutralization 
will  take  place. 

Testimony  that  will  establish  the  practical  application  can  be  furnished,  of  which  the  follow- 
ing is  prominent : 

Dr.  T.  Clark  Miller,  of  Massillon,  Ohio,  then  president  of  the  State  Board  of  Health  of  that 
State,  has  taken  pains  to  examine  and  report  on  the  efficiency  of  this  system  ;  he  says  : 

It  is  almost  a  new  stm_  in  the  sanitary  heavens. 

He  had  the  firm  of  Isaac  D.  Smead  &  Co.,  who  are  putting  in  apparatus  of  this  kind,  employ 
Prof.  Kirchmaier,  of  the  Northwestern  Ohio  Medical  College,  to  examine  and  make  a  report  of 
the  working  of  the  closets  of  this  firm. 

The  Ohio  State  Board  of  Health. 

Massillon,  Ohio,  March  22,  1887. 

Isaac  D.  Smead,  Esq.: 

Dear  Sir, — Have  you  the  data  to  fill  a  table,  such  as  the  one  enclosed,  as  to  the  schools  warmed  and  venti- 
lated by  your  system  in  Toledo?  Of  course  the  percentage  of  GO2  is  the  crucial  test.  I  would  like  to  have 
these  points  for  use  in  a  report  on  Warming  and  Ventilation  and  School  Hygiene,  which  I  am  gathering 
information  for,  and  intend  to  i)repare  during  the  present  year.  Of  course  if  I  cannot  get  these  points  I  will 
have  to  do  without.    I  thought  it  possible  you  might  have  them.  Yours  very  truly, 

T.  Clarke  Miller. 


102  ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


Isaac  D.  Smead  &  Co.,  Toledo,  Ohio : 

Gen/lcinni, — Your  order  to  make  qnantitativo  an- 
alysis and  other  experiments  to  ascertain  the  saluljrity 
of  the  air  in  a  school  huilding  containinjj;  your  warm- 
ing apparatus  and  ventilating  system,  as  requested  hy 
Dr.  T.  Clarke  INIiller,  President  of  the  8tate  Board  of 
Health  of  Ohio,  has  been  complied  with. 

On  April  5  we  proceeded  to  the  Illinois  Street 
School  building,  which  is  warmed  and  ventilated  )jy 
tlie  Smead  apparatus  and  contains  tlie  Smead  system 
of  dry  closets  in  the  basement. 

The  closets  we  f(_)und  in  perfect  condition  ;  tlie 
air  in  the  rooms  in  wliich  the  closets  are  situated  was 
entirely  free  from  the  objectionalile  odors  usually 
found  in  such  places. 

The  following  is  a  tabulated,  analytical  rei)ort  of 
the  air  in  and  ahout  the  Illinois  Street  School  building: 

Eight  estimations  were  made  —  four  for  carbonic 
acid  gas  and  four  for  oxygen.  Air  was  collected  at 
different  heights  in  the  rooms,  during  school  hours, 
on  April  5,  P.  M.,  and  April  6,  A.  M. 

For  estimating  carbonic  acid  gas,  Pettenhofer's 
method  was  used. 

For  oxygen,  Lieljig's  method. 

In  rooms  grade  1,  2  and  5,  we  made  such  experi- 
ments as  we  thought  uecessar}',  with  results  as  shown 
in  the  annexed  table. 

All  nf  which  we  respectfully  submit. 

(Signed)       (t.  a.  KiKru^[AiicR,  Pli.  C, 

Prof.  Clicminlnj  and  ToxlcoUxjn, 

N.-  W.  Ohio  Med.  College. 


1 

•> 

5 

Grade  of  room. 

GO 

60 

60 

Number  of  seats. 

G6 

40 

48 

Number  of  persons  present. 

Between  3  and  4  I'.  JI.  and 
between  10  and  11  A.  M. 

Hour  of  visit. 

2.981 

2.981 

2.981 

CO 2  in  10,000  parts  in  outside 
air. 

4.450 

4.261 

3.990 

CO2  in  10,000  parts  in  rooms. 

21.001 

21.001 

21.001 

Oxygen  in  outside  air  in  100 
parts. 

20.796 

20.820 

20.812 

Oxygen  in  air  in  rooms  in  100 
parts. 

.85 

.85 

.85 

Relative  humidity  in  outside 
air. 

.79 

.83 

42° 

.74 

Relative  humidity  in  school- 
rooms. 

42° 

42° 

Temperature  outside. 

70° 

68° 

70° 

Temperature  in  rooms  at  floor. 

70° 

68° 

72° 

Temperature  in  rooms  4  feet 

72° 

68.5° 

72.5° 

Temperature  in  rooms  at  ceil- 
ing. 

1 

1 

1 

Number  doors  —  closed. 

7 

7 

7 

Number  windows  —  closed. 

7 

7 

7 

Number  ventilating  registers 
—  open. 

11,000 

11,000 

11,000 

Cubic  feet  in  rooms. 

8.9 

8.3 

10.8 

Time  required  to  change  air  in 
rooms,  in  minutes. 

04 

84 

11 

Average  age  of  cliildren. 

ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


103 


Dr.  Villi  Pell,  Ik'ulth  Officer  of  Toledo,  Ohio,  also  reports  : 

I  regard  tlie  Isaae  I).  Siucad  system  ol'  dry  closets  healthful  in  e\ei'y  way. 

Mr.  P.  D.  ]>rieker,  of  Jersey  Shore,  Pa.,  says  : 

The  dry  closets  are  ellicacious,  novel  aiul  highly  appreciated  by  us,  as  they  work  well. 

A  special  cornmiltee  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  Englewood,  111.,  August  5,  I  SHU,  reports  : 

We  inspected  the  1)uilding;  (a  school  building  in  Toledo,  ( )hio)  very  thoroughly.  Each  vault  was  ahoiit 
24x3  feet  and  20  feet  long.  These  are  connected  witli  a  ventilating  shaft,  which  is  4x5  and  &■)  feet  high.  Iii 
the  base  of  the  shaft  was  an  iron  furnace  with  a  very  moderate  fire  in  it.  Nothing  had  been  removed  from 
either  vault  since  they  were  erected  one  year  ago.  The  door  at  the  end  of  the  [lirls'  vault  was  wide  open,  and  closet 
connected  directly  with  lite  janitor's  living-rooms,  all  Oie  doors  being  wide  open.  In  approaching  this  vault,  and  even 
in  standing  within  the  vault  door,  there  was  not  even  a  suggestion  of  disagreeable  odor.  We  were  astonished  at 
the  small  amount  of  excrement  left  after  a  year's  use  l)y  .SOO  children,  showing  that  almost  all  of  it  goes  up  the 
flue  as  vapor. 

We  tested  the  draft  through  the  privy  vaults  with  an  anemometer,  and  the  result  showed  a  passing 
1,250  cubic  feet  per  minute  in  eacli.  It  must  be  remembered  that  the  mercury  on  the  outside  of  the  building 
stood  at  85°  and  90°.  We  burned  some  of  the  dry  excrement  in  a  furnace  lire,  and  it  ljurned  as  readily  as 
cannel  coal. 

In  the  same  report  of  another  building  this  committee  says  : 

Five  hundred  children  have  been,  in  attendance  at  this  scliool,  and  no  excrement  has  been  removed  for  tiro  years. 
We  went  into  this  vault  and  found  no  disagreeable  odor  whatever.  There  was  no  fire  in  the  ventilating  shaft, 
but  the  current  of  air  from  the  closets  was  very  strong.  In  the  boys'  closet  some  holes  had  been  bored  through 
the  floor  into  the  vaults  for  tlie  accommodation  of  urine  accidentally  spilled.  Tested  with  a  match  there  was 
found  to  be  a  strong  current  of  air  down  through  the  auger-holes.  The  vaults  could  be  easily  cleaned  by  one 
man  in  two  hours,  and  the  system  works  perfectly,  ami  the  entire  cost  was  less  than  .filoO. 

Dr.  G.  W.  Keely,  a  member  of  the  school  board  of  Oxford,  Oliio,  after  reciting  tlie  encomiums 
of  various  parties  whom  he  came  in  contact  with  on  a  tour  of  inspection  of  school  apparatus,  says  : 

At  the  South  Street  School  building,  Toledo,  we  saw  the  best  test  of  the  dry  closet  system.  This  is  an 
eight-room  building.  The  superintendent  and  janitor  told  me  that  at  least  four  hundred  pupils  had  lieen 
using  these  closets  for  two  school  years,  and  "that  the  vault  had  never  been  cleaned.  I  examined  tlie  vault 
carefully,  crawling  by  the  side  of  at  least  three  stalagmites  made  by  deposits  from  the  boys,  striking  them  with 
my  cane.  They  were  hard  and  dry,  and  it  seemed  to  me  that  a  bushel  basket  would  hold  all  the  vault  con- 
tained.   When  necessary  to  clean  the  vault  the  deposits  can  be  burned. 

I).  W.  Jetferis,  of  Chester,  Pa.,  in  a  paper  read  before  the  State  Sanitary  Convention  at 
Philadelphia,  says  : 

Somebody  has  said  that  he  could  judge  of  the  civilization  of  a  peojilo  by  the  condition  of  their  privies. 
Between  the  foul-air-gathering  rooms  and  the  ventilating  shaft  we  have  j)laced  our  chisets.  Through  each  set 
of  closets  will  rush  150,000  cubic  feet  of  dry,  warm  air  every  hour.  This  air  has  already  accomplished  the 
two-fold  purpose  of  warming  and  ventilating  the  rooms  above,  and  now  is  called  to  another  oHice  as  it  sweeps 
up  the  big  chimney,  carrying  with  it  all  the  moisture  and  bad  odor  of  tlie  excreta,  leaving  behind  only  a 
small  ([uantity  of  inodorous  material,  which  burns  readily,  and  which  may  be  actually  burned  in  situs  or 
thrown  into  the  furnace.    No  malodor  can  possibly  reach  the  schoolroom. 

Tiie  apparatus  necessary  to  the  most  economical  and  efficient  ap[ilicatioii  of  tlie  system  is  as 
yet  limited  to  that  of  Isaac  D.  Smcad  &  Co.,  Toledo,  Ohio,  and  associated  offices,  so  far  as  I 
am  able  to  find,  and  to  wdiom  I  am  indebted  for  the  references  to  prove  their  effectiveness,  and 
of  course  whose  acts  in  the  premises  have  to  be  taken  with  the  much  swallowed  cimi  grano  sails. 
But  they  forestall  objections  by  guaranteeing  satisfaction. 

But  per  contra  what  have  we?  The  privy  vaults  and  cesspools  arc  the  same  authorized  by 
Moses,  and  have  not  been  improved  since  the  Children  of  Israel  crossed  Jordan  to  the  Promised 
Land  after  the  exodus.  And  without  any  intent  of  disparaging  tlie  sanitary  regiilatimis  of  the 
translated  lawgiver,  we  must  say,  after  four  thousand  years  of  experience,  that  they  are  m(!thods 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


of  hiding  a  poison,  filling  the  earth  with  traps  and  snares  to  destroy  those  who  follow  us  ;  that  the 
germs  of  pestilence  and  death  thus  planted  and  cultured,  carrying  yearly  victims  to  untimely 
graves,  is  the  reproach  of  the  system,  and  mankind  cries  aloud  to  be  spared. 

The  sewer,  wdiile  it  has  a  fair  appearance  in  many  respects,  is  only  passing  the  evil  to  the 
next  neighbor,  with  the  compromise  that  it  shall  continue  to  pass,  but  finally  is  stranded  on  the 
first  shoal  of  river  or  bay,  only  to  be  compromised  with  again  by  some  new  contrivance  and 
expensive  outlay.  London  has  two  thousand  miles  of  sewer,  at  an  expense  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  millions  of  dollars,  and  her  filth  on  hand  yet.  New  York,  only  a  short  time  since,  had  an 
estimate  for  repairs  on  her  sewers  amounting  to  six  million  dollars. 

If  you  wish  to  puzzle  a  man  of  science  who  has  given  attention  to  the  subject,  you  only  need 
ask  him  what  is  to  be  done  with  future  accumulations  of  effete  matter. 

The  theory  of  dry  closets  is  very  simple.  The  practical  ajiplication  is  simple  and  efficient. 
Instead  of  hiding  away  in  pits  and  sinks — traps  and  snares  for  the  unwary — or  slushing  miles  of 
filth  into  rivers  of  pollution,  and  passing  it  from  hand  to  hand,  the  giant  is  to  be  strangled  in  its 
cradle  hj  the  constant  watchfulness  of  draft  and  evaporation. 

When  every  house  shall  have  a  shaft  to  evaporate  its  filth  ;  when  the  human  brain  shall  set 
down  to  cheapen  and  render  eflicient  this  system,  then  sewer  and  vault  will  be  the  adjuncts  of  the 
drying  process. 

Permit  me  to  imagine  a  large  city,  having  every  habitated  point  set  with  a  drying  shaft ; 
having  the  accumulating  lilth  continually  on  the  move  upward,  and  by  this  means  constantly 
creating  space  to  gather  in  pure  air  from  the  hills  and  valleys,  rivers,  lakes  and  seas  ;  from  where 
contamination  has  been  spared  in  the  same  way  ;  imagine  tlie  new  impulses,  the  growth  of  brawn 
and  brain,  the  profits,  the  jjleasures,  giving  all  life  a  new  lease  and  deejjer  leasehold,  where  aggre- 
gation means  groAvth,  instead,  as  now,  decay  and  death. 

If  vital  economy  and  health  genesis  is  the  purpose  of  these  public  boards — and  that  they  are 
no  one  who  observes  their  efforts  wnll  deny — then  the  questions  and  knowledge  regarding  them 
should  be  laid  before  the  millions  who  are  the  inevitable  partakers  of  their  fruits,  be  they  good 
or  bad,  in  such  a  manner  that  they  who  are  the  final  arbiters  may  see  and  feel  the  right,  and 
select  with  intelligence  and  correctness. 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


105 


Smead's  Schoolroom  Heater. 


(See  pages  106  to  112.) 


IHE  cuts  on  pages  108  and  111  represent  the  Ventilating  Heater  we  are  now  manufacturing 


for  use  in  school  or  other  buildings  where  a  furnace  cannot  well  be  introduced.  The  favor 
with  which  our  Schoolroom  Heater  has  been  received  by  school  directors,  church  trustees, 
merchants  and  others,  has  induced  us  to  expend  a  large  sum  in  adding  new  features  which,  we 
think,  will  make  it  by  far  the  most  popular  ventilating  stove  ever  manufactured.  The  advantages 
of  an  oi'EN  FIRE  OVER  A  CLOSED  ONE,  in  the  matter  of  'KKirnmif/  the  feet  and  conducting  the  foul 
gases  from  the  room,  are  too  apparent  to  require  comment  from  us. 

The  first  ventilating  stove  ever  made  was  patented  by  Mr.  Ruttan.  For  the  past  twenty 
years  a  great  many  of  his  stoves  have  been  manufactured  ;  but  as  they  were  only  suitable  for 
burning  loood,  we  could  not  meet  the  demand  for  a  coal-hurner.  We  are  aware  that  there  are  other 
ventilating  stoves  (so-called)  in  the  West,  and  have  examined  them  all  with  great  care.  We 
made  the  examination  with  the  intention  of  buying  the  right  to  manufacture  the  one  best  suited 
to  the  work — that  is,  warming  witli  a  volume  of  air  instead  of  by  radiation.  By  our  examination 
we  learned  that  all  schoolroom  stoves  were  but  little  more  than  a  common  cannon  stove  with  a 
sheet-iron  case,  and  that  the  amount  of  air  they  would  warm  was  by  far  too  small  to  p'i'ojyerJy 
ventilate  a  schoolroom. 

The  principles  upon  which  we  have  constructed  our  stove  are  substantially  the  same  as  we 
have  heretofore  used  in  our  furnace,  to-wit :  a  large  amount  of  actual  fire  surface,  large  fire-box, 
and  more  than  twice  the  grate  surface  of  any  other  heater.  The  casing,  being  of  cast-iron,  radiates 
less  heat,  is  more  ornamental,  and  less  liable  to  injury  by  rust  or  blows  from  pupils  than  if  made 
of  sheet-iron. 

We  guarantee  the  heater  to  burn  soft  coal  or  wood  equally  well,  although  it  is  made  witli 
especial  reference  to  the  consumption  of  soft  coal.  Its  weight  is  about  fotir  times  as  much  as 
other  stoves,  and  great  care  has  been  used  to  make  it  durable. 


108  ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


112 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


Town  of  Gates,  District  No.  4. 

Gates  Centhe,  April  27, 1889. 

Messrs.  Smead  &  Nortiicott,  Elmira,  N.  Y. : 

Gentlemen, — The  ventilating  heater  which  you  put  in  our  school  in  December,  1887,  has  given  perfect 
satisfaction. 

1.  We  can  keep  our  schoolroom  from  60°  to  80°  in  any  weather. 

2.  The  room  is  an  even  temperature  in  every  part,  not  varying  over  from  2°  to  4°  at  a  distance  of  four 
feet  from  heater  and  the  back  part  of  the  room. 

3.  The  ventilation  is  good ;  we  always  have  pure  air. 

4.  We  use  very  little,  if  any,  more  coal  than  with  the  stove  which  warmed  only  a  small  part  of  the 
room  in  very  cold  weather. 

Respectfully  yours,  J.  L.  Chase. 


Leominster,  Mass.,  April  22,  1889. 

Messrs.  Smead  &  Northcott,  Elmira,  N.  Y. : 

Gentlemen, — In  reply  to  your  inquiry  of  April  18,  concerning  results  obtained  by  the  schoolroom  venti- 
lating heater,  of  which  we  have  four  in  use,  I  can  say  as  follows : 

1.  We  have  been  able  to  obtain  comfortable  tempei-ature  with  the  mercury  at  15°  below  zero,  starting 
fires  at  6:30  in  the  morning. 

2.  The  uniformity  of  temperature  in  different  parts  of  tlie  rooms  is  remarkable. 
8.    The  ventilation  is  excellent. 

4.    As  to  the  amount  of  fuel  used  as  compared  with  other  methods  of  warming  schoolrooms,  we  find 
this  is  the  cheapest  that  has  come  under  our  observation. 
"  /  S.S  Respectfully  yours,  I.  F.  Hall,  SupH  of  Schools. 


Jeremiah  Smith,  School  Commissioner,  Gates,  Monroe  Co.,  N.  Y. 
P.  O.  Address  :    Box  200,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

Gates,  N.  Y.,  May  2,  1889. 

Messrs.  Smead  &  Nortiicott,  Elmira,  N.  Y. : 

Gentlemen, — I  am  glad  to  inform  you  that  the  schoolroom  ventilating  heater  set  up  by  you  in  Decembe  r 
1887,  at  Gates  Centre,  has,  from  the  first,  given  universal  satisfaction.  Both  as  a  heater  and  as  a  ventilator  it 
does  perfect  work.    The  even  temperature  in  all  parts  of  the  schoolroom  (24x40x16)  is  quite  remarkable. 

Our  trustee  informs  me  that  by  comparing  his  coal  bills  with  those  of  other  seasons  the  quantity  used 
for  the  heater  does  not  vary  much  from  that  consumed  by  a  stove,  with  which  the  temi^erature  could  not  be 
brought  n-p  to  a  comfortable  point  in  winter  weather,  to  say  nothing  about  ventilating. 

Entering  frequently,  as  I  have  done,  ill-ventilated  schoolrooms,  where  the  atmosphere  was  oppre.ssive, 
prepares  me  to  appreciate  a  perfect  ventilating  and  heating  system,  and  to  discover,  beyond  the  possibility  of 
a  doubt,  the  most  potent  health  destroyer  —  vitiated  air. 

1  am  confident  that  people  must  .soon  be  tauglit  to  appreciate  a  perfect  heating  and  ventilating  system, 
and  that  the  old  style  stove  must  go. 

I  am,  gentlemen,  yours  respectfully,  .  Jeremiah  Smith. 


Lake  View,  N.  Y.,  May  5,  1889. 

Smead  &  Nortiicott,  Elmira,  N.  Y. : 

Genlleme7i, — Yours  of  April  18  received.  The  heater  in  use  in  our  schoolroom  the  past  two  winters  gives 
perfect  satisfaction.  We  have  never  noticed  a  difference  of  over  four  degrees  in  temjjerature  in  any  part  of 
the  room  at  same  height  from  floor.  The  coldest,  windiest  days  last  winter  the  temperature  was  kept  above 
70  without  the  least  trouble,  and  frequently  the  cooling  damper  was  lowered.  As  to  the  ventilation,  we  have 
no  scientific  tests,  but  the  air  is  always  fresh,  and  no  complaints  of  headache,  etc.,  we  so  often  hear  of  in  un- 
ventilated  schoolrooms.    Our  room  is  26x32  with  12-ft.  ceiling. 

Very  truly  yours,       Geo.  B.  Cole,  Trustee  Dist.  N^o.  12. 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


113 


HOW  TO  SELECT  WARMING  AND  VENTILATING  APPARATUS. 


"There  is  a  pr[NCii>le  which  is  a  bar  against  all  inp'Ormation,  which  is  proob"  against  all  aeguiMENt, 

AND  which  cannot  FAIL  TO  KEEP  A  MAN.  IN  EVERLASTING  IGNORANCE.     TlIIS  PRINCIPLE  IS, 
CONTEMPT  PRIOR  TO  EXAMINATION." — Dr.  PalciJ. 


ONE  of  the  greatest  farces  enacted  by  any  man  or  set  of  men  is  that  one  very  frequently 
enacted  by  boards  of  education  and  other  committees  liaviug  in  charge  the  construction  of 
public  buildings.  Yet,  I  do  not  know  that  they  are  entirely  at  fault,  nor  am  1  sure  that  I  can 
make  plain  a  better  method  than  tlie  one  usually  adopted.  They  generally  know  little  or 
iK:>thiug  about  the  subject  of  Avarming  and  ventilating  or  of  the  various  kinds  of  apparatus  in 
use  ;  they  simply  know  that  tliey  must  buy  some  kind  of  a  heater,  and  as  they  work  witliout  2)ay 
can  give  but  little  attention  to  the  matter.  They  postpone  the  letting  of  the  contract  as  long  as 
possible,  then  invite  bids,  get  themselves  in  position  to  be  talked  to  by  the  "  uyents"  allowing  each 
"agent"  say  thirty  minutes  to  teach  them  all  he  knows  up(ui  the  subject.  (Ample  time  I  admit 
for  the  majority  to  tell  all  they  know  of  the  matter,  if  we  may  judge  of  their  knowledge  by  their 
works!!)  But  suppose  there  is  among  tliose  who  bid  on  the  work  to  be  done  a  careful,  com- 
petent, conservative  and  experienced  engineer,  who  has  given  a  score  of  years  to  the  learning  of 
the  business,  who  has  had  several  hundred  buildings  under  his  personal  supervision,  and  who  is 
honest  enough  to  acknowledge  that  he  has  made  many  mistakes  in  the  past  and  is  anxious  to 
avoid  them  in  the  future,  and  who  may  have  spent  from  $200  to  $500  in  preparing  plans  and 
estimates  on  the  building  under  consideration,  and  who  may  have  discovered  serious  errors  in 
original  construction  or  in  the  plans  prepared  by  the  architect — ^ errors  which  if  not  corrected 
would,  to  his  positive  knowledge,  cause  a  faihire,  no  matter  what  apparatus  might  be  used.  Can 
he  in  thirty  minutes'  time  explain  all  these  details  and  teach  the  committee  a  business  it  has 
taken  him  years  to  learn,  or  make  clear  to  them  a  set  of  plans  it  may  have  taken  him  two  weeks 
to  design  ?  Manifestly  not.  It  is  preposterous  to  suppose  he  could,  and  especially  if  he  be  met 
with  and  have  to  Aqwj  or  explain  a  lot  of  statements  that  some  "  agent "  or  visionary  "  salesman  " 
may  have  presented  to  the  committee  before  his  appearance.  They  (the  "  agents  ")  may  have  told 
the  committee  that  away  chjwn  in  some  obscure  corner  of  some  distant  state,  "  away  back  when 

Adam  was  a  boy,"  the  system  was  a  failure,  and  that  the  systems  used  by  all  otJiers  than 

themselves  had  "  been  used  by  the  Chinese  four  thousand  years  ago."  And  after  answering  all 
these  statements,  how  much  time  is  left  him  of  this  "  thirty  miiiutes  "  in  which  to  explain  to  the 
committee  who  cast  the  vote,  and  of  whom  perhaps  not  more  than  two  or  thVee  know  the 
difference  between  a  plan  of  a  building  and  a  map  of  Europe.  How  much  time  I  say  has  the 
engineer  left  to  explain  his  methods  as  repi'esented  probably  by  an  expensive  set  of  drawings 
absolutely  necessary  to  the  jiroper  execution  of  the  contract  ?  First-class  work  in  any  line  alwavs 
costs  more  than  second  or  fourth  class,  and  as  it  is  fair  to  suppose  that  the  student  knows  more 
than  he  who  has  never  studied,  it  is  as  fair  to  presume  that  a  carefully  prepared  estimate  is 
higher  than  one  that  is  "  guessed  at." 

I  can  assure  the  reader  that  it  is  often  mighty  up-hill  work  to  get  a  majority  vote  for  the 
best  apparatus  from  the  wise  men  who  have  devoted  possibly  three  hours  to  the  question.  I  was 
recently  given  an  hour  in  which  to  answer  the  arguments  (?)  of  four  "  salesmen,"  three  of  whom 
had  never  warmed  a  building  one-third  the  size  of  the  one  under  consideration,  and  to  explain  a 


114  ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 

set  of  plans  it  lia<l  cost  me  $200  to  prepare  (no  designs  had  been  submitted  by  the  others).  I 
was  also  asked  to  make  plain  to  these  wise  men  why  my  bid,  on  which  there  was  not  a  profit  to 
exceed  ten  per  cent,  was  over  ii|;-l:,000  liigher  than  any  of  the  others  submitted  and  more  than  $0,000 
more  than  the  lowest.  It  could  not  he  done,  and  I  refused  to  attemj^t  it,  and  the  cheapest  apparatus 
was  voted  in  by  the  executive  committee  ;  but  the  vote  was  afterwards  reconsidered,  and,  owing 
to  the  earnest,  honest  efforts  of  a  few  members,  faithful  to  the  best  interests  of  those  who  would 
be  obliged  to  occupy  the  building  (a  state  university),  the  contract  was  awarded  to  me.  There 
are  many  "agents"  running  around  the  country  selling  "hot-air  furnaces"  and  steam  fixtures 
whose  stock  argument  is  that  someone  else  has  made  a  failure  somewhere  (and  that  generally  a 
long  distance  off),  and  who  know  no  more  about  the  business  of  successful  engineering  than  the 
average  quack  who  hawks  "  patent  medicine "  about  the  country  knows  of  surgery.  No 
matter  how  the  building  may  have  been  planned  and  constructed,  "  it  is  all  right,"  and  all  the 
occupant  requires  to  complete  his  happiness  is  the  possession  of  their  "  Eureka  "  or  "Florida." 
"  Any  hardware  dealer  or  steamfitter  can  set  it  in  position,  and  any  ten-year-old  boy  can  manage 
it,  and  no  matter  wliat  the  quantity  of  fuel  used,  the  result  will  be  the  same!"  They  will 
recommend,  say,  a  50-inch  furnace  for  a  residence  containing  20,000  cubic  feet,  and  two  of  the 
same  size  for  a  church  or  opera  house  containing  200,000  cubic  feet,  and  of  course  in  the  latter 
instance  there  can  be  but  one  result  and  that,  failure.  Now  I  have,  and  at  a  considerable  length, 
stated  the  condition  of  affairs  as  they  exist,  and  the  reader  would  like  some  recommendation  as 
to  the  course  to  be  pursued  by  a  committee  who  wish  to  avoid  the  errors  referred  to.  I  can  only 
urge  uinestlijatioii  ;  honest,  careful  investigation.  The  principles  governing  the  question  of 
warming  and  ventilating  are  easily  understood,  but  the  reader  must  bear  in  mind  that  the 
successful  ap[ilication  of  these  principles  depends  upon  the  knmoledge  and  skill  of  the  engineer 
in  charge  of  the  work,  and  his  knowledge  and  skill  depend  largely  upon  his  exper'mice.  Con- 
cerning this,  the  customer  must  decide,  and  it  is  for  this  reascjn  I  have  presented  for  consideration 
a  large  amount  ()f  evidence  attesting  the  success  of  the  work  I  have  done.  I  do  not  claim  that 
in  an  experience  of  twenty  years  I  have  made  no  mistakes,  either  in  construction  or  estimates. 
I  have  made  nuuii/,  luit  never  the  same  one  fivice  to  my  knowledge,  and  have  corrected  all  at  my 
own  expense,  whenever  possible  for  me  to  do  so. 


Lima,  Ohio,  March  20,  1889. 

Isaac  D.  Sjiead  &  Co.,  Toledo,  Ohio: 

Gents, — Yours  of  the  12th  inst.,  in  relation  to  satisfaction  in  the  use  of  the  heating  apparatus  and  dry 
closet  system  as  furnished  by  you  for  our  3d  Ward  school  building,  was  duly  received  and  noted.  My  term  of 
office  expired  after  the  board  had  contracted  with  you  and  during  the  construction  of  the  building — I  liad 
served  the  district  for  a  period  of  fifteen  years  and  concluded  to  take  a  rest  —  hence  I  have  delayed  replying 
to  your  inquiries  until  I  could  meet  some  menil)ers  of  the  present  board  and  the  superintendent  and  learn 
what  tliey  had  to  say.  In  relation  to  the  heaters,  from  present  indications  they  will  meet  all  reipiirements. 
As  to  the  dry  closet  system,  for  convenience,  cleanliness  and  morality  it  cannot  be  excelled  as  an  appliance  to 
a  school  buiUling,  it  being  so  closely  under  the  eye  of  the  janitor  no  ol)scene  writing  or  pictures  can  be  made 
or  bad  talk  indulged  in  without  the  guilty  ones  being  detected.  All  with  whom  I  have  consulted  are  highly 
pleased  with  the  equiimient.  Very  truly  yours,  Tiieo.  Mayo. 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


115 


CAUTION. 

WE  are  constantly  being  informed  of  instances  where  our  Svsteji  of  Ventilation,  WITH  OUR 
IMPROVEMENTS,  lias  been  introduced  by  parties  either  representing  themselves  as  our  agents,  or 
that  we  have  no  patents  to  protect  our  rights,  ^\'e  are  charged  with  the  failure  to  warm  buildings  of 
which  we  know  nothing  until  we  hear  the  reports  so  detrimental  to  our  interests. 

So  far  as  we  are  able  to  learn,  tliese  reports  are  started  and  circulated  by  those  having  cheap,  mgiit 
furnaces,  and  no  system  of  ventilation.  We  have  paid  several  thousand  dollars  for  patents,  and  many 
thousands  more  have  been  expended  to  perfect  the  system.  Patents  have  been  granted  for  our  improvements, 
and  WE  SHALL  COLLECT  A  ROYALTY  WHENEVER  THEY  ARE  USED. 

Any  jjarties  now  using  (without  our  consent),  or  desiring  to  use,  the  systems  of  ventilation,  must  cor- 
respond directly  with  us  as  we  have  no  agents. 


I 

GUARANTEE. 

All  contracts  made  V)y  us  contain  the  following  guarantee,  to  wit ; 

"We  hereby  guarantee  that  the  said  furnace(s)  shall,  with  good  care,  warm  the.  

rooms  of  said  ljuilding  to  an  average  temperature  of  from  (S'f  to  70°  J'ahrenheit  during  the  coldest  weather, 
and  at  the  same  time  secure  good  ventilation  in  all  rooms  warmed.  Provided  the  furnace(s)  do(es)  not 
fill  'the  above  guarantee,  we  agree  either  to  make  it  (them)  do  so  at  our  own  expense,  or  refund  all  money 
paid  us  and  remove  the  furnace(s)  from  the  building." 

For  the  additional  sum  of  dollars,  payable 

when  furnaces  are  set  in  position,  party  of  first  jmrt  agrees 

to  furnish  vault  heaters  @  %  each,        -  I  

 24  inch  cast-iron  seats  @  %  each,    -      -      -  $  

 30    "       "       "       "     @  $   "  -       -  $  

 feet  of  iron  Hoor  (5)  $  per  foot,       -       -       -  $  

 feet  of  urinal  @  $  per  foot,  -  $  

Right  to  use  Closet  System,  -  %  

as  shown  on  plans,  and  to  permit  the  use  of  the  Isaac  D.  Smead  system  of  dry  closets,  and  to  furnish  plans 
and  specifications  showing  proper  construction  of  the  same.  Said  closets  to  be  constructed  at  the  expense 
of  the  party  of  the  second  part,  and  strictly  in  accordance  with  said  plans  and  specifications,  and  under  these 
conditions  the  party  of  the  first  part  guarantees  the  successful  operation  of  the  dry  closet  system. 


Mayvillh,  Mich.,  March  Ifl,  1SS9. 

To  WHOM  IT  MAY  CONCEKX  : 

The  Smead  system  has  been  in  use  in  our  new  school  building  for  seven  months,  and  it  has  given 
the  best  of  satisfaction  in  every  respect.  The  daily  attendance  has  been  greatly  increased  on  account  of 
the  ventilation.  Nine  of  the  forty  pupils  enrolled  the  first  month  of  our  last  year  in  one  old  house 
attended  every  day.  Nine  of  the  forty-two  enrolled  the  second  month  attended  every  day,  and  ten  of 
the  forty-four  enrolled  tlie  third  month  attended  every  day. 

Thirty-four  of  the  fifty  pupils  enrolled  the  first  month  of  the  present  school  year  attended  every  day. 
Forty-one  of  the  forty-four  enrolled  the  second  month  attended  every  day,  and  thirty-nine  of  the  sixty 
enrolled  the  third  month  attended  every  da)'. 

The  dry  closets  work  to  perfection.    I  believe  it  to  be  the  best  heating  and  ventilating  system  in  use. 

Yours  truly,  (Signed)  E.  D.  Dimoxd, 

Frincipal. 


116 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


STOVE  GASES. 


WROUGHT-IRON  VS.  CAST-IRON  AND  CARBONIC  OXIDE. 

To  THE  Editors  of  the  Boston  Daily  Advertiser: 

During  the  past  four  or  five  years  much  has  been  written  and  said  in  regard  to  the  effects  of  cast-iron 
used  in  the  construction  of  stoves  and  furnaces.  Cast-iron,  it  lias  been  said,  allows  poisonous  gases  (carbonic 
oxide,  carburetted  hydrogen,  sulphur  compounds,  etc.)  to  pass  freely  through  its  pores,  even  at  temperatures 
below  redness.    Wrought-iron  was  claimed  to  be  free  from  this  objection. 

Ceitain  experiments  made  under  the  direction  of  the  French  Academy  have  been  quoted  in  proof  ot 
these  statements,  but  have  been  so  exaggerated,  either  by  ignorance  or  from  selfish  motives,  that  there  is  a 
great  misapprehension  on  the  part  of  the  public  in  regard  to  the  real  facts  of  the  case. 

Furnaces  and  stoves  have  been  invented,  claiming  to  obviate  the  difficulties  alleged,  and  recently  the 
matter  was  brought  before  a  scientific  body  in  this  city,  where  the  great  dangers  said  to  arise  from  the  use 
of  cast-iron  were  freely  discussed. 

These  dangers  have  been  greatly  exaggerated  and  overrated.  What  are  the  facts?  In  1863-C4  Deville  and 
Treo.-t,  at  Paris,  discovered  that  various  metals — platinum,  iron,  etc. — were  permeable  to  gases  at  a  bright  red 
heat;  this  permeability  was  only  slight,  for  after  several  hours  traces  only  of  certain  gases  found  their  way 
through.  Dr.  Carrett,  in  1865,  and  Gen.  Morin,  in  1868,  brought  their  experiments  to  the  notice  -of  the  French 
Academy,  and  suggested  the  appointing  of  a  commission  of  scientific  men  to  report  upon  the  extent  to  which 
cast-iron  stoves  were  detrimental  to  the  ]>ub]ic  health.  At  the  same  time  Gen.  Morin  presented  the  results  of 
several  experiments,  upon  which  all  of  the  cry  against  cast-iron  has  been  based.  These  experiments  were 
made  with  soft  coal  (which,  as  is  well  known,  yields  more  gaseous  products  than  anthracite],  and  stoves  of 
cast-iron  only  one-tenth  of  an  inch  thick.  The  stoves  were  heated  to  a  red  beat,  yet  in  the  concluding  experi- 
ment, lasting  twenty-seven  hours,  there  was  produced  in  the  250  liters  of  air  in  a  close  vessel  surrounding  the 
stoves  about  ylVo  of  a  liter  of  carbonic  oxide,  or  only  one  part  of  this  poisonous  gas  in  fi,000  parts  of  the  con- 
fined air.  Had  the  gas  produced  in  twenty-seven  hours  escaped  into  a  room  of  1 ,000  cubic  feet  capacity — a 
room  without  the  slightest  ventilatifin — there  would  have  been  found  in  625,000  parts  of  air  only  one  part  of 
carbonic  oxide.  If  .such  a  room  were  ventilated,  is  it  possible  that  the  air  at  any  given  time  would  have  been 
poisonous?  Even  this  small  quantity  of  carbonic  oxide  did  not  pass  througli  the  cast-iron,  for  by  far  the  greater 
part  of  it  was  developed  on  its  outer  surface,  as  the  subsequent  report  of  the  commission  shows.  A  commis- 
sion was  appointed  to  fully  investigate  the  matter.  Among  its  members  were  Fremy,  Payen,  St.  Clair,  Deville 
and  Gen.  Morin,  and  after  a  series  of  experiments  lasting  more  than  a  year,  a  full  report  was  made.  No  one 
of  those  who  have  said  so  much  against  cast-iron  seems  to  have  given  this  report  any  notice.  It  is  contained 
in  the  Comptes  Rendus,  May  '■'>,  1869.  After  detailing  at  considerable  length  their  various  experiments  and 
methods  showing  the  production  of  carbonic  oxide  in  small  quantities,  under  certain  circumstances,  by  stoves 
of  either  wrought  or  cast  iron,  they  report: 

The  results  indicated  above  are  produced  only  when  the  metal  is  brought  to  a  red  heat. 

The  most  immediate  effects  are  those  due  to  the  direct  radiation  of  these  surfaces,  and  in  this  respect 
lliere  is  no  difference  between  wrought  and  cast  iron. 

The  report  further  shows  that  carbonic  oxide  is  produced  mainly  by  the  following  causes: 

I.  The  direct  action  of  the  air  upon  the  carbon  in  the  iron  heated  to  redness. 

II.  The  decomposition  of  the  carbonic  acid  in  the  air  by  its  contact  with  the  metal  heated  to  redness. 

III.  The  influence  of  dust  and  organic  matters  naturally  contained  in  the  air. 

The  commission  further  report  that  a  development  of  carbonic  oxide  may  take  place  from  wrought-iron 
stoves  brought  to  a  red  heat,  and  they  close  with  the  statement: 

By  lining  stoves  with  fire  brick  or  clay  all  the  inconveniences  noted  may  be  avoided. 

It  is  far  from  my  purpose  to  underrate  the  great  importance  of  having  the  air  of  our  houses  as  pure  as 
possible,  and  of  avoiding  the  slightest  presence  of  carbonic  oxide  or  other  dangerous  gases;  but  it  seems  to  me 
very  wrong  that  sensational  stories  should  be  circulated  in  the  name  of  science,  and  facts  exaggerated,  causing 
unnecessary  alarm  in  regard  to  matters  of  great  interest  to  the  public. 

Our  stoves  and  furnaces  too  often  emit  dangerous  gases,  but  it  is  not  tlie  cast-iron  "permeated  by  these 
gases  at  every  pore"  that  is  at  fault;  it  is  the  red-hot  surfaces  acting  upon  the  air  itself;  the  imperfect 
dampers;  the  dust  in  the  air.  Let  us  hope  we  may  hear  no  more  of  this  great  scare  about  iioisonous  gases 
coming  through  the  pores  of  cast-iron  in  a  furnace  an  inch  thick.  Respectfully, 

No.  8  Boylston  St.,  Boston,  June  6.  James  F.  Babcock. 


OPINION  OF  A  WELL-KNOWN  SCIENTIST. 

Prof  Kedzie,  of  the  Michigan  Board  of  Health,  contradicts  the  notion  that  has  been  so  industriou.sly  cir- 
culated of  late  years  that  gas  wtll  not  escape  through  the  walls  of  wrought-iron  furnaces.  It  will  not  penetrate 
them  as  readily  as  cast-iron,  but  will  pass  through  if  highly  heated.  Cast-iron  furnaces  are  good  enough  if 
large  enough,  so  as  to  furnish  sufficient  warmth  without  being  overheated,  if  the  joints  are  well  closed  with 
cement,  and  if  no  dampers  are  allowed  in  the  pipe  to  obstruct  the  passage  of  the  gas  into  the  chimney.  More- 
over, cast-iron  radiates  heat  better  than  wrought-iron. 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


HIGH  SCELOOL  BUILDING,  ITHACA,  N.  Y. 

A.  IS.  WOOD,  ARCHITECT,  ITHACA. 

Wanned  and  ventilated  hy  the  Smead  system. 


STATE  CAPITOL  BUILDING,  CHEYENNE,  WYO. 

D.  W.  GIBBS  &  CO.,  ARCHITECTS,  TOLEDO,  OHIO. 

Warmed  and  ventilated  by  the  Sinead  system. 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO 


119 


GLENS  FALLS,  N.  Y. 
"Warmed  and  ventilated  by  the  Smead  system. 


120 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


121 


No.  14  SCHOOL  BUILDING,  ROCTIESTEE,  N.  Y. 

O.  K.  li-OOTE,  ARCHITECT. 

Warmed  and  ventilated  liy  the  Smead  system. 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


Warmed  and  ventilated  by  the  Smead  system. 


WEARY  A  KRAMER,  ARCHITECTS,  AKRON,  OHIO. 

Warmed  and  ventilated  by  the  Smcad  system 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


A.  S.  WAGXER,  ARCHITECT,  WILLIAMSPORT,  PA. 

Warmed  and  ventilated  by  the  Smead  system. 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


Warmed  and  ventilated  by  the  Sniead  system. 


126  tSAAC  i).  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


128  ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


'r  M 


FIFTH  AVENUE  SCHOOL  BUILDING,  COLUMBUS,  OHIO. 

S.  J.  HALL,  ARCHITECT,  COLUMBUS,  OHIO. 

Thirteen  school  buildings  in  Columbus  wanned  and  ventilated  l)y  the  Sniead  system. 


ISAAC  D.  SJMKAI)  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


129 


CENTRAL  HIGH  SCHOOL,  ALLEGHENY,  PA. 

J.  F.  OSTERLING,  ARCHITECT. 

Warmed  and  ventilated  by  the  Smead  system. 


I 


130 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


132 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


Fourteen  school  buildings  in  Toronto  warmed  and  ventilated  by  the  Smead  system. 
(Smead,  Dowd  &  Co.,  Contractors,  Toronto,  Ont.) 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


W.  W.  LUMMUS,  ARCHITECT,  48  CONGRESS  STREET,  BOSTON. 

Warmed  and  ventilated  by  the  Smead  system. 


134 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


136 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


F.  W.  HOLLISTEE,  ARCHITECT,  SAGINAW,  MICH. 

Nine  school  buildings  in  Saginaw  warmed  and  ventilated 'by  the  Smead  system. 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


137 


ILLINOIS  STEEET  SCHOOL  BUILDING,  TOLEDO,  OHIO. 

HENRY  C.  CONRAD,  ARCniTEfT,  TOLEDO,  OHIO. 

Twentj'-six  seliool  buildings  in  Toledo  warmed  and  ventilated  by  the  Smead  system. 


138 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


PUBLIC  SCHOOL  BUILDmC,  CAREY,  OHIO. 

F.  K.  HEWITT,  AECniTECT,  TIFFIX,  OHIO. 

Warmed  ami  ventilated  by  the  Siiiead  system. 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


139 


Warmed  and  ventilated  by  the  Smead  system. 


140 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


ELAH  TERRELL  &  CO.,  ARCHITECTS,  COLUMBUS,  OHIO. 

Warmed  and  ventilated  by  the  Smead  system. 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAt)  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


141 


Warmed  and  ventilated  by  the  Smead  system. 

EOSSITEE  &  WRIGHT,  ARCHITECTS,  47  LIBERTY  STREET,  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


142 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


UNION  FREE  SCHOOL,  DANSVILLE,  N.  Y. 

L.  r.  RonriEEs,  architect,  Rochester,  x.  y. 
Warmed  and  ventilated  by  the  Smead  system. 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


143 


ADDISON  (N.  Y.)  UNION  SCHOOL. 

WATJvER  A  NOLAN,  ARCIlrrE( 'TS,  EOOIIE.STEr!,  N.  Y. 

Warmed  and  ventilated  l)y  the  Smead  system. 


144 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


ST.  JOACHIM  BUILDING,  DETROIT,  MICH. 
Fourteen  school  buildings  in  Detroit  warmed  and  ventilated  by  the  Smead  system. 


146 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


Nine  school  building.s  in  Saginaw  warmed  and  ventilated  by  the  Smead  system. 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


147 


Wai'iiied  and  ventilated  by  the  Smead  system. 


150 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


152 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


ISAAC  ID.  SMEAD:  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


WILLS  &  GO'S  BUILDING,  417  LOGUST  ST.,  PHILADELPHIA,  PA 
Warmed  and  ventilated  by  the  Smead  system. 


154 


ISAAC  D.  SMEAD  &  CO.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


GETTY  RESEARCH  INSTITUTE 


